Blood Storage and Preservation
How is Blood Stored and Preserved?
Blood storage is an important process in the blood banking industry as it helps maintain the quality of blood and its medical effectiveness. Blood can be stored in a few different ways, but the most common method is refrigeration.
Blood banks depend on donors to provide blood and blood components. When blood is collected from a donor, it must be processed to remove red blood cells and plasma (the liquid part of blood), which are used for transfusions. The remaining white blood cells and platelets are stored in a cryopreservation solution and frozen at temperatures below -80°C. The process keeps the cells alive until they are needed for transfusion. Blood storage and preservation is vital as soon as the blood is collected from a donor, blood must be stored at the right temperature in order to preserve its vital cells, proteins, and molecules. Blood bank storage ensures purity of blood.
Storage of blood products in a blood bank is important for blood banks because it allows them to create a stable supply of safe blood that can be stored for years without losing its effectiveness. The storage process also allows hospitals to ensure they have enough blood on hand to meet the needs of their patients when they need it most.
Storage of blood in blood bank cold chain ensures blood storage conditions are at the required temperature and that blood samples are maintained at the correct temperature from the moment they are taken until they reach their final destination. Any decline in the cold chain can cause deterioration of blood and can put at risk, the life of the person due to receive the blood. Blood contamination from insufficient storage can cause death during transfusion.
Blood Storage Blast Freezer
Froilabo’s Blast Freezer can be used to rapidly freeze blood bags as it can reach a temperature of -30°C in less than 90 minutes. For more information on how our blast freezers can be used for blood bags, read our Application Note: Freezing Kinetics of Plasma Bag. Once a blood bag has been blasted frozen, it can then be transferred for long-term storage in a Froilabo ULT.
Storage of Blood Products Using ULT Freezers
Blood storage and preservation is made possible with Froilabo’s ultra-low temperature freezers. Featuring chest and upright models, our -86C ultra-low freezers guarantee maximum protection and storage of blood products at all times. Our extensive range features a solution for every laboratory with volumes ranging from 175 L to 1000 L.
If you are interested in a Blast or ULT freezer for blood products, or have any queries, please contact us and a member of our team will be in touch.
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Further Reading
- Fresh Frozen Plasma Storage
- Biological Sample Storage
- Ultra-Low Temperature Pharmaceutical Freezers
- How Blast Freezing can Improve your Pharmaceutical Laboratory
Blood Storage: Ensure Safe Storage of Blood Products with Froilabo.