The Importance of Blood Bank Equipment
Ensuring the safe storage of blood in a medical environment is imperative for the health of patients and recipients of blood. Blood products need to remain high quality and have been recorded accurately throughout the cold chain to prevent any errors during transfusion.
Here at QED Scientific, we have partnered with leading manufacturers including CoolerMed and Emsas to provide a comprehensive range of ground-breaking blood bank equipment, specifically designed for modern blood stockholding, blood banks, and laboratories.
What makes up human blood?
Whole blood is made up of four main components, all with different functions within the body. These include:
Plasma - plasma derivatives transport blood cells throughout the body along with proteins, nutrients, waste products, chemical messengers like hormones, antibodies, and clotting factors.
Red blood cells - red cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and return CO2 from the body to the lungs.
White blood cells - protect the body from infection and work as part of the immune system to fight illness.
Platelets - part of clotting factors, platelets coagulate at the site of injury, stopping further blood loss and providing scaffolding for newly formed tissue to grow onto.
After whole blood donation is taken in at a blood centre, it can be broken down into its separate component parts using a centrifuge. After it has been separated, red blood cells, plasma derivatives, and platelets are then extracted using further specialist machines. The individual blood products are then stored separately in quarantine until safety testing has been completed and are finally sent to controlled storage conditions until they are needed for transfusion.
Blood bank equipment
We understand that blood bank equipment needs can vary immensely between different blood centres. That’s why we provide an extensive range of blood bank equipment options that support blood donations of differing quantities, allowing you to keep up with varying levels of demand.
Sophisticated blood-holding equipment is vital to ensure that blood products remain in optimum condition, ready for use at a moment’s notice.
Who needs blood storage equipment?
There are a large variety of healthcare and laboratory services that could benefit from on-site blood retention. All of these locations need to ensure blood and blood components are kept at the correct temperature to minimise bacterial growth, ensure continued cell function, and preserve viability for transfusion.
Services that could benefit include:
Blood transfusion services - which are generally within wider blood transfusion centres.
Blood banks - that handle whole blood donations.
Hospitals - that may store blood bags to look after patients suffering from blood loss.
Veterinary hospital Laboratories.
Ambulances and vehicles that are part of the blood cold chain – including those involved in blood collection, such as the Blood Bikes.
What is the blood cold chain?
The blood cold chain is the organised process for blood storage and carriage (blood collection.) It must be completed in a secure manner from the time the whole blood is taken from the donor, in the case of a single donor, to the time it is transfused into the recipient patient.
As a biological material, if the whole blood is not kept safely at lower temperatures during any stage within the cold chain, it will become unusable for blood donation and will have to be discarded.
Blood bank storage
Blood is made up of various components, which need to be stored at different temperatures. Whole blood and red blood cells must be stored at a temperature of between 2 and 6°C, whilst plasma should be frozen at -32°C or colder. The most vulnerable components of blood are platelets, which require storage at room temperature – around 20-24°C.
As any change to these temperatures can damage the blood products, rendering them unsafe for use, great care must be taken when storing them. This is made much simpler with choosing specialist.
How long can whole blood and blood components be kept at lower temperatures?
Even if kept under the correct conditions, blood components can only be stored for a limited amount of time to ensure they are safe for recipients.
This shelf life means that blood transfusion centres, blood centres, and even blood banks may need to regularly take in fresh donations to meet demand.
Whole blood can be refrigerated and stored in a blood bag for between 21- 35 days, depending on the anticoagulant used.
Packed red blood cells and red cells may be refrigerated for a maximum of 42 days or can be frozen for up to 10 years.
Platelets are stored at an ambient temperature (20–24 °C) for a maximum of 5-7 days before platelet transfusion.
Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) can be stored frozen for up to one year.
Granulocytes - medically useful white blood cells - can be stored at an ambient temperature for only 24 hours.
Vaccines will all have a different shelf-life and will either be suitable for refrigeration, as with the MMR vaccine or must be frozen, as in the case of varicella (chickenpox) and Zostavax (shingles) vaccines.
Our blood banking range features everything from blood bank refrigerators, dry plasma thawers, and plasma freezers, to platelet agitators and incubators.
Let’s take a closer look at our extensive blood cold chain range.
Blood bank refrigeration
Specifically designed to store whole blood and blood derivatives, including red blood cells, platelet-rich plasma, and white blood cells, our blood bank refrigerator choices range from 80 litres under-bench models to 1,500-litre double-door models with single or dual refrigeration systems and touchscreen control panels.
All medical devices from our manufacturers are registered 93/42/CEE and include a range of model-specific added benefits that help keep blood secure and increase the shelf life.
EMSAS
With a range capacity range of 25-672 blood bags, these models gives the largest storage quantity per blood refrigerator. Other benefits include:
5 different sized models for you to choose from
Choice of solid and glazed lockable doors
Chart Recorder/ USB port
Full alarm systems
Touch screen controls
Data storage USB/ SD connectivity
Thermal printer
CoolerMed
With smaller blood bag storage capacities, the CoolerMed models offers economical storage with capacities from 120 to 390 bags, stored in drawers as standard Other benefits include:
4 different capacities with either solid or glazed lockable doors
Multiple audio and visual alarms
Stainless steel drawer system as standard
Chart recorder
Touch screen controls
USB data port and connectivity
Thermal printer
Optional extras include SC cards and WiFi alert capabilities
Plasma freezers
Our versatile plasma freezers operate between -20°C to -40 °C and are used to store samples, plasma products, plasma derivatives, fresh frozen plasma (FFP), and other biological samples. With a variety of sizes available, our plasma freezers are free-standing floor units.
Our plasma freezers also come with standard features, such as microprocessor controls, audio-visual alarms, and environmentally friendly refrigerants, all designed to keep frozen components safe and viable.
Plasma thawers
Our smart plasma thawer – with futureproof technology – from KW Apparecchi offers complete thawing of fresh frozen plasma, FFP, in just 15 minutes and provides ease of use, total traceability and reporting of user, product, and thawing.
Our plasma thawer also has the following benefits:
Dry water bath method to avoid any possibility of cross-contamination
Touch screen control
Infrared barcode reader, futureproof monitoring and reporting
Independent pockets – 2 pockets for up to 4 plasma packs and 3 pocket versions for up to 6 plasma packs
Uniform thawing
3 separate alarms for increased safety and security
In-built thawing tracer software is fully downloadable and shows data such as bag ID number, start and end-time of thaw, temperature graph and user ID
Data is easily exported and can be stored electronically or printed and added to patient notes – providing total traceability
Blood bank instruments
It is not only the temperature of blood products that is important when considering blood-holding equipment. Platelets must be constantly agitated whilst in storage to ensure maximum viability and no platelet clumping.
Here at QED Scientific, our blood banking instruments include platelet agitators and incubators for the safe storage of platelet concentrates, providing continuous agitation and a controlled storage temperature.
Platelet Agitators and Incubators
Designed for the safe storage of blood platelets, our platelet agitators and platelet incubators can accommodate up to 720 bags. The platelet agitator has a capacity from 48 bags to 180 bags, with larger incubators accommodating multiple agitators.
Platelet Incubator
Our platelet incubators come with many benefits, including:
Operational temperature with a stability of +/- 1.5° at 22°C
3 sizes of incubator – one bench-top and two free-standing
Non-toxic and non-flammable Green Ice refrigerant
Floor-standing models can accommodate multiple agitators for increased capacity
Visual and audible alarms for temperature excursions, loss of power, door open and probe fault
Data automatically captured for record keeping and proof of storage conditions – easily downloadable via Wi-Fi, USB or ethernet
Lockable glazed door
Why are platelet agitators essential?
Designed to move the platelet concentrates in a gentle, horizontal motion at a fixed speed and the correct temperature, this device ensures the thrombocytes (platelets) are prevented from clumping, are kept continuously oxygenated, and that sufficient oxygen can enter the incubator, while excess carbon dioxide is safely expelled.
If not subjected to constant agitation once removed from whole blood, platelets will lose their viability and adhesive properties, vastly reducing their usefulness as clotting factors for the recipient.
Platelet Agitator
Our platelet agitators are manufactured with multiple features:
Smooth, silent, and reliable side-to-side motion with movement of 16mm
Optimal airflow across and around products
Internal motion detection alarm and agitates at a approximately 58 strokes per minute
Multiple agitators can be fitted into the floor-standing models, increasing capacity up to 720bags
Additional blood bank equipment
Here at QED Scientific, we also provide ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers operating at -86°C, which are used for the long-term storage of blood plasma, vaccines, and other biological samples.
Wire-free temperature monitoring system
Another invaluable blood bank instrument is our wire-free temperature monitoring system. This is a simple, yet extremely accurate and highly adaptable solution that can be used to monitor and record temperature and humidity levels in any blood banking environment.
This vital piece of blood bank equipment is easy to install and set up, without the need for an engineer to attend. The wire-free temperature monitoring system is ideal for all kinds of blood bank refrigerators and freezers, and is incredibly user-friendly, as it can be monitored from a PC or laptop.
Benefits of a wire-free temperature management system include:
Simple for the user to install and set up.
No associated engineer costs.
Continuous monitoring and alerts provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Accurate to within +/- 0.3°C.
Additional probes can be added to the system when needed.
Equipment can be moved within the laboratory without needing to modify any wiring.
Probes can measure temperatures between -250°C and + 1100°C, with a range of up to 900 metres dependent on the type of probe.
Get in touch to discuss your blood bank equipment needs
The importance of blood bank equipment is self-evident and, with a wide range of products available for you here at QED Scientific, you are bound to find exactly what you are looking for in our extensive range.
As a prominent supplier of blood storage equipment in the UK, we pride ourselves on offering high-quality products alongside a professional, friendly service.
We work alongside leading manufacturers to offer a wide range of blood apparatus to meet your requirements and increase the shelf-life of whole blood and blood components.
If you have specific requirements, we can work with our manufacturers to devise a solution that best suits your needs. Why not get in touch to discuss your needs with one of our experts?
You can call us on 01663 735 494 or send us an email for a swift and well-informed response. You can also fill out our online contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.