Kerala: Apheresis machine installed at GMC thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvanathapuram: The Government Medical College Hospital(GMCH) had readied a Rs. 17.5 lakh worth modern apheresis machine, which can directly separate and extract the required component from a donor’s blood. . The facility is currently available at RCC and Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology.

Presently whole blood collections are made from the donor and then the required component separated. With the advent of the new blood component extractor , apheresis machine, the required component is automatically isolated, while the rest is returned to the donor.

In the routine of events, serology tests to determine blood-bore pathogens are done after blood collection. With the introduction of the apheresis machine the donor is examined ahead, including the platelet count. Once certified safe by the doctor separate components can be extracted within an hour from the donors body.

The apheresis, can separate more platelets from a donor than in the conventional way. 250 to 300 ml platelets can be collected from a single blood donor with the help of the machine. The donor will have no health issues.

An apheresis kit is required for separating components. A kit worth Rs. 10,000 is being made available to the MCH through Kerala Medical Services Corporation at Rs. 6,300.

Efforts are on to make this facility available free of cost to BPLpatients through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) reports Hindu.