How is plasma collected and synthesized?

Plasma Donation is the process of Donating Plasma which is very much similar to the blood donation process. But here the difference is in the output material. In the blood donation, a syringe will be inserted into the human body and the required amount of blood will be extracted and will be stored in a bottle, whereas here in Plasma Donation process a machine with multiple needles will be inserted that will collect the human blood and will separate the blood from plasma and will return the extracted blood back into the donor's body. Then the collected material will be stored in glass tubes and will be further synthesized into other products.

Plasma Donation is called as ‘Plasmapheresis’ which can be a bit more complex than the normal blood donation. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes for the complete process and then the donor will be separated from the machine. Also before the process the donors are made to go through the various pre medical test or examinations in order to quality themselves for Donating Plasma. The donors have to undergo a screening test in order to ensure that both the donor and the collected product are safe and healthy.

There are various aspects that are monitored before allowing the individual to donate their plasma. Some of the medical examinations that the donors are made to undergo include the following:

·         Blood pressure check

·         Pulse rate

·         Body temperature

·         Total protein content

·         Protein electrophoresis

·         Complete health screening

All these physical examinations are carried out under a licensed physician or an approved medical substitute who is under the supervision of the physician. All the donors are screened before each donation for viral diseases that can be transmitted by blood etc. These tests are very much essential as the collected substance is used further for the manufacture of medicines and various treatments.

Generally, most of the Plasma Donations are carried out for the fractionation of the substance into other products. The substance that is collected solely for further manufacturing or synthesis is called as Source Plasma. The collected substance is frozen at a temperature lower than -20 °C (-4 °F) and then it is carried forward to a processing facility for fractionation. In the fractionation process the collected substance is separated into various components which are further synthesized into medications or therapies for the human use.

Some of the medical conditions that had been treated using the substance that is being collected through the plasmapheresis  process are as follows:

·         Guillain Barre syndrome

·         Miller Fisher syndrome

·         Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

·         Goodpasture's syndrome       

·         Hyperviscosity syndromes

Apart from creating such medicines, sometimes this substance is also thawed and transfused as Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) that is also used for various medical purposes. These products are also available in single donor units and other multiple formats for the use of medication in many clinical laboratories. There are many biological laboratories available in the United States of America and other areas across the globe that offers such biological products to the customers. Based upon the unique need of the customers they supply the products in single or bulk quantity.

There is also an increasing demand for multiple disease states that is used in the production of various medical vaccines and antibiotics. All the clinical laboratories maintained store these products with much care and attention in order to retain the quality of the product. As it is obvious that the product loses its quality and effect if it is not carried and stored properly. Hence, this product is also collected very much care and safety from the donors. The assurance test is done before every donation process.