EP1825918A1 - Circular centrifuge chamber for the separation of blood - Google Patents

Abstract

The chamber (1) has a circular deflector situated between an outlet of an intake conduit (2) and an admission port of a discharge conduit (10) in order to form an axial flow of blood with a current counter to that formed against a circular lateral wall (7) of the chamber. The deflector has an alternating sequence of contiguous concave parts and convex parts (4) both having or defining crest lines or thalweg lines, between the parts. A portion of the lines is inclined in a direction of an axis of revolution of the chamber.

Description

The present invention relates to a circular centrifugation chamber for the separation of blood, this chamber being elongated along its axis of revolution and one of its ends having means for sealing and preserving sterility inside the chamber. the chamber, surrounding a fixed portion concentric with its axis of revolution and traversed by a feed channel for the centrifugal blood and at least one evacuation channel for the constituent separated from the blood whose density is the lowest, these supply and discharge channels being intended to be connected to blood circulation means from one to the other through the centrifugation chamber by forming an axial flow against the circular side wall of this chamber, the an inlet opening of said exhaust channel being at a distance from said axis of revolution corresponding to the concentration zone of said separate constituent whose The volume volume is the smallest to continuously remove it, at least one circular baffle being located between the outlet of the feed channel and the inlet opening of the discharge channel to form an axial flow of the countercurrent blood. of that formed against said side wall.

The current centrifuge chambers have a separation power limited by two main parameters:

The speed of rotation: it is limited by the risk of hemolysis of red blood cells, heating of the blood, by the mechanical efforts or the noise level that it generates, or to guarantee the safety of the user.

Congestion: the small size centrifuge chambers have the advantage of being able to rotate at high rotation speed, but offer a centrifugation radius R _f small dimensions, as well as a reduced effective separation area S. The large size centrifuges make it possible to work on a large centrifugation radius R _f , as well as to have a large separating useful area S. However, they are limited in rotation speed and have the major disadvantage of being bulky, increasing storage volumes and requiring a large centrifuge machine.

It has already been proposed a centrifugation chamber of the aforementioned type, but operating exclusively discontinuous in the US 3,145,713 since after the separation of a certain volume, determined by the volume of the enclosure, the red blood cells are removed by sucking them by the entry of whole blood. In this chamber, the liquid passes from an external separation compartment to an internal separation compartment, which goes against the centrifugal force. In addition, nothing is provided so that the already separated components do not re-mix during the passage of a separation compartment to another of the centrifuge chamber. Consequently, the lengthening of the path traveled by the liquid to be separated practically does not contribute to improving the separating power of the centrifugation chamber.

The process described in US 6,352,499 is also discontinuous, as in the previous solution and the enclosure described does not have means to prevent the re-mixing of the components between the first compartment and the second compartment.

Finally, US 6,629,919 and the JP 59-069166 both relate to batch centrifugation enclosures comprising two separation compartments, one for separation of red blood cells and plasma and a second for purifying the plasma. These speakers do not allow to increase the separation surface on which takes place the process of separating all the constituents of the blood, but to proceed to a separation in stages, each step serving to separate a specific constituent, the component (red blood cells) separated in the first step not passing into the second compartment . Such speakers do not allow, as will be explained later to increase the effective area for the separation of a continuous flow of blood and optimize both the volume of the chamber and its separating power.

The object of the present invention is to overcome, at least in part, the disadvantages of these solutions.

To this end, this invention relates to a circular centrifugation chamber for the separation of blood of the type mentioned above in which the circular deflector has an alternation of concave parts and contiguous convex portions which have or define between them lines crest or thalweg of which at least a portion of these lines are inclined towards the axis of revolution of the chamber.

The concept of the proposed centrifuge chamber is to combine the advantages of small centrifuge chambers, which can therefore rotate at high speed, while having a large separating useful area S due to the presence of several separation stages and the passage from one stage to another without re-mixing constituents already at least partially separated. This makes it possible to optimize the separating power of the centrifugation chamber, and finally to have a maximum blood flow to be separated (and thus to reduce the separation time of a given whole blood volume).

• La figure 1 est à titre explicatif une vue en perspective d'une chambre de centrifugation sur laquelle sont indiqués les différents paramètres utilisés dans l'explication générale du concept de l'invention;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe diamétrale de la forme d'exécution de l'invention, ne montrant que la moitié de la chambre de centrifugation;
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective d'un détail de la chambre de centrifugation de la figure 2;
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe selon la ligne IV-IV de la figure 2;
• les figures 4a et 4b sont des vues semblables à celle de la figure 4 et illustrent respectivement une première et une seconde variante de réalisation du déflecteur cylindrique de la chambre de centrifugation;
• la figure 5 est une vue semblable à la figure 2 d'une variante de la chambre de centrifugation.

The accompanying drawings illustrate, schematically and by way of example, an embodiment and various variants of the circular centrifugation chamber for the separation of blood, object of the present invention.

• Figure 1 is for explanatory purposes a perspective view of a centrifuge chamber on which are indicated the various parameters used in the general explanation of the concept of the invention;
• Figure 2 is a diametrical sectional view of the embodiment of the invention showing only half of the centrifuge chamber;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of a detail of the centrifuge chamber of Figure 2;
• Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 2;
• Figures 4a and 4b are views similar to that of Figure 4 and respectively illustrate a first and a second embodiment of the cylindrical baffle of the centrifuge chamber;
• Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 of a variant of the centrifuge chamber.

When separating blood components by centrifugation, the sedimentation rate of a particle (red blood cell, white blood cell, wafer) in the plasma is given by the balance of centrifugation forces and viscosity forces acting on the particle .

• F_c = Force centrifuge [N]
• F_v = Force de viscosité [N]
• ω = Vitesse de rotation de la centrifugeuse [rad/s]
• R_f = Rayon de centrifugation de la particule (distance du centre de gravité de la particule à l'axe de rotation) [m]
• R_p = rayon de la particule [m]
• V_p = Volume de la particule [m³]
• ρ_p = Masse volumique de la particule [kg/m³]
• ρ_pla = Masse volumique du plasma [kg/m³]
• η_pla = Viscosité du plasma [kg/(m.s)]
• C = Vitesse de sédimentation de la particule

With particular reference to the parameters shown in Figure 1:

• F _c = Centrifugal force [N]
• F _v = viscosity force [N]
• ω = rotational speed of the centrifuge [rad / s]
• R _f = Centrifugation radius of the particle (distance from the center of gravity of the particle to the axis of rotation) [m]
• R _p = radius of the particle [m]
• V _p = Volume of the particle [m ³ ]
• ρ _p = Density of the particle [kg / m ³ ]
• ρ _pla = Density of plasma [kg / m ³ ]
• η _pla = plasma viscosity [kg / (ms)]
• C = sedimentation rate of the particle

The centrifugal force applied to the particle is given by the following formula: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline F_{\mathrm{vs}}=\left({\rho }_p-{\rho }_{pl\mathrm{at}}\right)\cdot V_p\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="\omega "\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\omega </figure-callout>}}^2\cdot R_f\\ \hline\end{array}\left[\mathrm{NOT}\right]$$

The viscosity force that opposes the centrifugal force is given by the formula: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline F_v=6\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_p\cdot {\eta }_{pl\mathrm{at}}\cdot \mathrm{VS}\\ \hline\end{array}\left[\mathrm{NOT}\right]$$

When the system is in equilibrium, F _c = F _v. . We can therefore draw from it that: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline \mathit{VS}=\frac{\left({\rho }_p-{\rho }_{pl\mathrm{at}}\right)\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="6"\; label="V\; p"\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0003.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">V\; </figure-callout>}}_p}{6\cdot \pi \cdot R_p\cdot {\eta }_{pl\mathrm{at}}}\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="\omega "\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\omega </figure-callout>}}^2\cdot R_f\\ \hline\end{array}\left[\mathrm{m}\mathrm{/}\mathrm{s}\right]$$

In the case of a given particle immersed in a given fluid, the equation ③ becomes: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline \mathit{VS}=\mathit{const}\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="\omega "\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\omega </figure-callout>}}^2\cdot R_f\\ \hline\end{array}\left[\mathrm{m}\mathrm{/}\mathrm{s}\right]$$

The separating power of a centrifugation chamber defines the fluid flow to be separated that it can absorb while achieving the desired sedimentation.

Either a separation chamber traversed by a flow of vertical annular fluid of speed C _f , of internal diameter R _f , height H _f and whose thickness of the fluid layer is e _f .

In order for a particle at the entrance of the chamber on the most unfavorable radius R _{f to} have the time to sediment completely, it is necessary that: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline \frac{H_f}{{\mathrm{VS}}_f}\ge \frac{e_f}{\mathrm{VS}}\\ \hline\end{array}\left[\mathrm{s}\right]$$

Let Q̇ [m ³ / s] be the flow rate passing through the centrifuge chamber. When R _f >> e _f , we have: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline \begin{array}{c}\dot{Q}\le {\mathrm{VS}}_f\cdot 2\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_f\cdot e_f\le \mathrm{VS}\cdot \frac{H_f}{e_f}\cdot 2\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_f\cdot e_f\le \mathrm{VS}\mathit{\cdot }{H}_f\cdot 2\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="f\; m"\; filenames="imgf0001.png,imgf0002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">f\; </figure-callout>}}& \\ \end{array}& \\ \\ \hline\end{array}\left[{\mathrm{m}}^{}\right]\left[{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{/}\mathrm{s}\right]$$

Finally, inserting ④ into ⑥, we get: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline \dot{Q}\le \mathit{const}\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="\omega "\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\omega </figure-callout>}}^2\cdot R_f\cdot H_f\cdot 2\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_f=\mathit{const}\cdot 2\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_f\cdot H_f\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="\omega "\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\omega </figure-callout>}}^2\cdot R_{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="f\; m"\; filenames="imgf0001.png,imgf0002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">f\; </figure-callout>}}& \\ \\ \hline\end{array}\left[{\mathrm{m}}^{}\right]\left[{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{/}\mathrm{s}\right]$$

However, we can see that: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline 2\cdot \mathrm{\pi }\cdot R_f\cdot H_f=\mathrm{S}\\ \hline\end{array}\left[{\mathrm{m}}^2\right]$$

S representing the useful surface of the centrifuge chamber.

The formula ⑦ can be written as follows: $$\begin{array}{|c|}\hline \dot{Q}\le \mathit{const}\cdot \mathrm{S}\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="\omega "\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\omega </figure-callout>}}^2\cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="R\; f\; m"\; filenames="imgf0001.png,imgf0002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">R\; </figure-callout>}}_f& \\ \\ \hline\end{array}\left[{\mathrm{m}}^{}\right]\left[{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{/}\mathrm{s}\right]$$

1. 1. La vitesse de rotation de la chambre de centrifugation ω.
2. 2. La distance par rapport à l'axe de rotation du liquide à centrifuger R_f.
3. 3. La surface de la chambre de centrifugation S sur laquelle les forces de séparation sont efficacement utilisées.

At the sight of this formula, it becomes clear that the parameters making it possible to vary the separation power of a centrifugation chamber are:

1. 1. The speed of rotation of the centrifuge chamber ω.
2. 2. The distance to the axis of rotation of the centrifugal liquid R _f .
3. 3. The surface of the centrifuge chamber S on which the separation forces are effectively used.

As mentioned above, the concept of the proposed centrifuge chamber is to combine the advantages of small centrifuge chambers, which can therefore rotate at a high speed, while having a large separation area S.

The circular centrifugation chamber 1 illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 has the general shape of an elongate cylinder comprising two upper parts 1 ', 1 ", respectively lower, made of thermoplastic material, welded to one another and is crossed at its upper end by a fixed portion centered on the axis of revolution of the centrifugation chamber 1, through which a feed conduit 2 in whole blood WB and, in this example, by two discharge pipes 10, 11 for the PL plasma, respectively RBC RBCs. A sealing and sterility preservation system, such as a rotary joint (not shown), for example, well known in this type of centrifugation chamber is disposed between the fixed part through which the ducts 2, 10, 11 and the duct pass through. rotating part constituted by the cylindrical chamber 1. The ducts 2, 10, 11 are intended to be connected, in known manner, to a patient and / or pockets collection and storage of the components, possibly by means of pumps of circulation (elements not shown).

The internal space of the centrifugation chamber 1 is divided by a circular baffle 3 which can be fixed to this centrifugation chamber 1 by fins 3 'sandwiched between the edges of the two parts 1', 1 "welded to each other. the other of this centrifuge chamber 1. This circular deflector 3 is preferably concentric with the axis of revolution of the centrifuge chamber 1. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in detail in FIG. 3, this deflector comprises a surface circular 4 ', preferably slightly conical, which ends at its lower part located at the downstream end of the deflector 3, by a second conical portion 4 "whose cone angle is more marked than that of the circular surface 4' . The surface of this second conical portion 4 "is interrupted by an alternation of concave portions 5 which are progressively widening in the downstream axial direction, giving it in plan the appearance of a toothed gear with truncated toothing, as illustrated. FIG. 4. The integration of the concave portions 5 on the surface of the second conical portion 4 "defines convex portions 4 alternating with the concave portions 5. The concave and convex portions are thus related to the downstream perimeter of the circular surface 4 'The downstream median portions of these concave portions 5 progressively reentrant downstream are tangent to a common line which is preferably circular and concentric with the axis of revolution of the centrifugation chamber 1 and whose diameter is slightly greater than that of the junction between the circular surface 4 'and the second conical portion 4 "of the circular deflector 3, so as to ensure a flow of blood down the centrifuge chamber, on all the inner faces of the concave portions 5 when the rotation of the centrifugation chamber 1 around its axis of revolution. The upstream upper end of the baffle 3 ends with an inner annular flange 3a, to separate the whole blood WB entering, separate components.

The two evacuation conduits 10, 11 each have an intake portion radially oriented with respect to the axis of revolution of the centrifugation chamber 1, to plunge into the thickness of the PL plasma layers and globules. red RBCs to allow their extraction. A deflector, preferably in the form of a flat ring 14, concentric with the axis of revolution of the centrifugation chamber 1 is disposed between the inlet ends of the discharge ducts 10 and 11, to prevent the mixing of these two components. For this purpose, the outer diameter of the annular deflector 14 is greater than the diameter of the interface between the RBC RBC layer which is furthest from the axis of revolution of the centrifuge chamber 1 and which is adjacent to the wall side 7 of this centrifugation chamber and the PL plasma layer located between the red blood cell layer and the outer face of the circular baffle 3. The internal diameter of this partition 14 is smaller than the internal diameter of the two layers of the separate components.

The separation process using the centrifugation chamber described above is as follows: the whole blood WB to be centrifuged is introduced into the centrifugation chamber 1 by the fixed channel 2. Under the effect of the centrifugal force, the whole blood WB is pressed against the upper upstream end of the circular deflector 3. As it flows downwards from the centrifugation chamber 1, the whole blood WB undergoes a first separation into PL plasma and RBC RBC concentrate. The latter are flattened on the largest radius of centrifugation because of their greater density and form a layer adjacent to the inner face of the circular baffle 3. The advantageously hollowed out shape of the concave parts 5 progressively reentrant located between two convex portions 4 has for This is because the red blood cells, being denser than the plasma, are pushed outwards and the shape of the internal faces of the concave parts 5 direct them towards the inner faces of the convex portions 4, since the latter are situated on the outer surface. large diameter of the internal centrifugation space delimited by the inner face of the deflector 3.

As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the RBC red blood cells form confined layers inside the truncated tooth forms formed by the convex portions 4 alternating with the reentrant surfaces of the concave portions 5, whereas the plasma remains on a smaller centrifugation radius, adjacent to the inner surface of the RBC RBC layers formed against the inner faces of the convex portions 4. The lower extremities or downstream 6 convex portions 4 are adjacent to the junction of the side wall 7 of the centrifuge chamber 1 and the bottom 13 of this chamber and are located at a distance from this bottom 13. Preferably this distance is such that the The downstream ends 6 are immersed in the RBC RBC layer, namely in the layer formed of the constituent separated from the blood whose density is the highest.

FIG. 2 shows that the lower downstream end 6 of the convex portions 4 in which the red blood cells are concentrated are located outside the lower downstream ends 8 of the concave portions 5. Thanks to this arrangement, when the two components are already partially separated, the one which essentially comprises RBC RBCs out of the downstream edge 6 of the deflector 3, to a diameter which is outside the one 8 from which the PL plasma comes out, canceling the risk of re-mixing of the two components since the red blood cells, which constitute the particles of greater density, leave the bottom of the deflector 3 near the side wall 7 of the centrifugation chamber 1, against which they will go up towards the evacuation duct 11 while continuing to to concentrate. Pl plasma PL, it emerges along the lower edges 8 of the concave portions 5, so that it is deposited inside the RBC red blood cell layer by continuing to drop the heavier red blood cells it still contains and which are repelled by the centrifugal force in the RBC RBC layer as the plasma flows towards the inlet opening of the exhaust duct 10.

The side wall 7 of the centrifugation chamber thus serves as a second centrifugation stage. PL plasma and RBC RBCs are finally extracted separately of the centrifugation chamber 1 by suction through their respective evacuation conduits 10 and 11.

Referring to Figure 4a it illustrates, in a view similar to that of Figure 4, a first variant of the cylindrical deflector 3. The convex portions 4 and the concave portions 5 form a succession of slots at the periphery of the cylindrical baffle 3, in particular at the periphery of the second conical portion 4 "of this deflector according to a preferred embodiment.

In another possible embodiment, FIG. 4b illustrates convex portions 4 as well as concave portions 5 forming a plurality of surfaces joined by edges which are alternately re-entrant and protruding. The cylindrical deflector 3 obtained according to this second variant therefore has a polyhedron trunk or a kind of pyramid having as a base a star-shaped surface. As can be seen in this figure, the shape of the base of this polyhedron trunk is neither necessarily regular nor rigorously concentric with the axis of revolution of the chamber. Therefore, it will be understood that the cylindrical adjective which qualifies the deflector 3 does not mean that the latter is limited to having a perfectly circular shape. At least a portion of the edges common to these surfaces are preferably concurrent in their extension at a point on the axis of revolution of the chamber. This point of competition corresponding to the virtual summit of this trunk of polyhedron which is preferentially right.

Like the illustrations given in Figures 4, 4a and 4b, it is noted that the shapes that can take the convex portions 4 and concave 5 are very varied. In general, it will therefore be mentioned that the circular deflector 3 has an alternation of concave portions 5 and contiguous convex portions 4 which possess or define one another ridge or thalweg lines at least a portion of which are inclined towards the axis of revolution of the chamber, preferably concurrent in their extension at a point on the axis of revolution of the chamber.

The ridges correspond, for example, to the salient edges which have been referred to in FIG. 4b, whereas the thalweg lines correspond inversely to the re-entrant edges common to two adjacent surfaces in this figure. Each of the convex or concave portions 5 may be formed for example by a curved surface, an angled surface or a plurality of plane and / or left surfaces.

According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in particular in Figure 3, the baffle is formed of two distinct portions, namely an upper portion consisting of the circular surface 4 'slightly conical and a lower portion constituted by the second conical portion 4 ". It will be mentioned that this deflector could also see its circular surface 4 'as being a cylindrical surface, therefore with a constant radius over its entire height, In another variant, it would also be possible to produce a cylindrical deflector 3 provided with a circular surface 4 'having an angle of conicity identical to that of the second conical portion 4 ". In this case, the circular surface 4 'would be that of a cone, more precisely that of a frustoconical portion of a cone, the apex of which would preferably be merged with the point of concurrence of the crest or trough lines of the cones. convex 4 and concave parts 5.

Avec:

• H = hauteur utile de la chambre de centrifugation.
• R1 = rayon utile moyen du premier étage de centrifugation délimité par le déflecteur 3
• R2 = rayon utile moyen du second étage de centrifugation

The centrifugal working surface of the centrifugation chamber 1 is equal to: $$S=2\cdot \pi \cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="1"\; label="R"\; filenames="imgf0001.png,imgf0002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">R</figure-callout>}}_1\cdot H+2\cdot \pi \cdot {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="R"\; filenames="imgf0002.png,imgf0005.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">R</figure-callout>}}_2\cdot H=2\cdot \pi \cdot ({\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="1"\; label="R"\; filenames="imgf0001.png,imgf0002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">R</figure-callout>}}_1+R_2)\cdot H$$

With:

• H = useful height of the centrifuge chamber.
• R1 = average useful radius of the first centrifugation stage defined by the deflector 3
• R2 = average useful radius of the second centrifugation stage

It can be seen that this useful centrifugation surface is very substantially greater than that of a conventional centrifuge chamber of identical size, for which the useful centrifugation area is equal to: $$S=2\cdot \pi \cdot R\cdot H$$

To obtain maximum efficiency, it would theoretically be necessary for the radius R1 to tend towards R2 so that the surface S obtained can be doubled. If in practice this value can not be attained, on the other hand, it can be approached by placing the deflector 3 at an average distance from the side wall 7 of the chamber, which is preferably between 0.5 and 5 mm. In this way, the thickness of the red blood cell layer of the second centrifugation stage would also be very fine. Advantageously, such a small thickness will minimize the volume of red blood cells that will remain trapped in the chamber and will be lost at the end of the cycle after use of the latter.

Ideally, the centrifugation chamber has a diameter of the order of 80 mm, an axial dimension (height) of the order of 100 mm, the flow rate being around 100 ml / min. These parameters may vary according to the applications between 10 and 200 mm, preferably between 50 and 85 mm, for the diameter of the chamber and between 20 and 400 mm, preferably between 60 and 150 mm, for its height. As for its flow, it can vary between 10 and 1000 ml / min. In any case, the present invention makes it possible to improve the performance of the centrifugation chamber having a given volume. This This improvement results in an improvement in the separating power of the centrifugation chamber, making it possible to increase the flow rate of treated blood in a centrifuge chamber of the same volume, and at unchanged rotational speed.

According to the variant illustrated in FIG. 5, the centrifugation chamber 1 comprises a tubular filter or conical trunk which is preferably a leucocyte filter arranged concentrically with the axis of revolution of the centrifuge chamber 1. The diameter of this filter 15 is such that this filter is located under the inner annular flange 3a of the deflector 3 and forms a central compartment 12 in the centrifugation chamber 1.

The whole blood WB leaves the fixed supply duct 2 in the central compartment 12 near the bottom of the centrifugation chamber 1. Due to the pressure drop due to the filter 15, the whole blood WB that leaves the supply duct 2 is distributed in a layer on the inner face of the filter 15. Due to the hydraulic pressure of the blood generated by the centrifugal force exerted on him, the blood filtration is much faster than by simple gravity. This rapid filtration avoids a complete filling of the compartment 12 which would lead to an interruption of the incoming flow of whole blood WB. Once the filtered blood, it is projected by the centrifugal forces on the wall of the baffle 3 and flows towards the bottom 13 of the centrifuge chamber 1. The continuation of the separation process is then identical to that which has been described. in connection with the embodiment of Figures 2 to 4.

It is obvious that this 2-stage centrifuge chamber concept as described above can be expanded to any number of centrifugation stages, using between each stage and the downstream stage a deflector having in its downstream part the same type of convex portions 4 alternating with concave parts 5 as the deflector 3.

The same process can be used for the separation of whole blood in more than 2 components (acellular plasma, platelet concentrate, packed red blood cells, white blood cells, ...).

The process of introduction of whole blood and underdrawing of the separated components can be envisaged both continuously (all the separate components being subdivided simultaneously with the introduction of blood to be separated) and discontinuously (only a part of it). separate components are sub-drawn simultaneously with the introduction of blood, the other component (s) being underdrawn after stopping the centrifuge).

The process described above is applicable both for purposes of apheresis, separation of blood components from collection bags, or washing blood in the case of autotransfusion for example.

Claims (12)

Circular centrifugation chamber for the separation of blood, this chamber (1) being elongated along its axis of revolution and one end of which has sealing means around a fixed part concentric with its axis of revolution, this chamber (1) being traversed by a feed channel (2) for the centrifuging blood and at least one evacuation channel (10, 11) for the component separated from the blood whose density is the lowest, supply and discharge means for being connected to means for circulating blood from one of these channels through the centrifuge chamber by forming an axial flow against the circular side wall (7) thereof. chamber (1), the discharge channel (10, 11) having an inlet opening at a distance from said axis of revolution corresponding to the concentration zone of said separated constituent whose density is the lowest ble to remove it continuously, at least one circular baffle (3) being located between the outlet of the supply channel (2) and the inlet opening of the discharge channel (10, 11) to form an axial flow against the current of the blood formed against said side wall (7), characterized in that the circular deflector (3) has an alternation of concave parts (5) and contiguous convex portions (4) which possess or define between they ridge or thalweg lines, at least a portion of which are inclined towards the axis of revolution of the chamber. Centrifugal chamber according to claim 1 characterized in that said portions of the ridge lines or thalweg are, in their extension, concurrent at a point on the axis of revolution of the chamber. Centrifugal chamber according to claim 1, characterized in that the concave (5) and convex portions (4) are attached to the downstream perimeter of a circular surface (4 ') of the circular deflector (3). Centrifugal chamber according to claim 3, characterized in that the circular surface (4 ') is cylindrical, conical or conical trunk. Centrifugation chamber according to claim 3 characterized in that the circular surface (4 ') is that of a frustoconical portion of a cone whose vertex coincides with the point of concurrence of the crest or thalweg lines of the convex portions ( 4) and concave (5). Centrifugation chamber according to claim 1, wherein a tubular filter (15) or conical trunk is disposed within said circular deflector (3). Centrifugation chamber according to claim 6, characterized in that the filter (15) is a leukocyte filter. Centrifugation chamber according to claim 1, characterized in that the convex portions (4) have downstream ends (6) immersed in a layer formed of the constituent separated from the blood whose density is the highest. Centrifugation chamber according to one of the preceding claims, whose diameter is between 10 and 200 mm and whose height is between 20 and 400 mm. Centrifugation chamber according to claim 9, whose diameter is between 50 and 85 mm and whose height is between 60 and 150 mm. Centrifugation chamber according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the upstream end of said deflector (3) has an annular flange (3a) which extends inward to separate the incoming blood flow from the flow of the separated constituents. Centrifugal chamber according to claim 1, characterized in that the deflector (3) is spaced from the side wall (7) by an average value of between 0.5 and 5 mm.

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