Claims
- 1. A process for filtering a biological liquid in an in-line filtration system comprising:
- providing the biological liquid in a collection container;
- conveying an additive solution into the collection container to mix with the biological liquid prior to filtration wherein said additive solution is located in a storage container and is automatically restricted to flow in a fluid path substantially bypassing a filtration media, said filtration media being disposed between the collection container and the storage container;
- mixing the biological liquid and the additive solution to form a mixture; and,
- conveying the mixture into the storage container wherein the mixture is automatically restricted to flow in a second fluid path substantially passing through the filtration media.
- 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the collection container is substantially free of any additive solution before biological liquid is provided therein, the additive solution is conveyed to the collection container before biological liquid is provided therein and then the mixture is conveyed to the storage container.
- 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the biological liquid is whole blood.
- 4. The process of claim 3, further comprising separating the whole blood into blood products.
- 5. The process of claim 4, further comprising conveying at least one blood product of said blood products into a second storage container.
- 6. The process of claim 5, wherein said second storage container is in fluid flow communication with the collection container on the pre-filter side of the system.
- 7. The process of claim 5, wherein said second storage container is in fluid flow communication with the storage container on the post-filter side of the system.
- 8. The process of claim 1, wherein during the step of conveying said additive solution, said storage container is located above the collection container to convey the additive solution by gravity.
- 9. The process of claim 1, wherein during the step of conveying said mixture, said storage container is located below the collection container to convey the mixture by gravity.
- 10. The process of claim 1, wherein one or more of the collection or storage containers are flexible containers.
- 11. The process of claim 1, wherein leukocytes are filtered from the biological liquid.
- 12. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of conveying the additive solution which is automatically restricted to flow in a fluid path substantially bypassing a filtration media comprises at least one automatic control member in the fluid path.
- 13. The process of claim 12, wherein the at least one automatic control member comprises a check valve, a red cell barrier or a combination of a check valve and a red cell barrier.
- 14. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of conveying the mixture into the storage container wherein the mixture is automatically restricted to flow in a second fluid path substantially passing through the filtration media comprises at least one automatic control member in the second fluid path.
- 15. The process of claim 14, wherein the at least one automatic control member comprises a check valve.
- 16. The process of claim 1, wherein at least one automatic control member is located in the fluid path and wherein at least a second automatic control member is located in the second fluid path.
- 17. The process of claim 16, wherein the at least one automatic control member and the at least second automatic control member comprise check valves, a red cell barrier or a combination of a check valve and a red cell barrier.
- 18. A process for filtering a biological liquid comprising:
- collecting the biological liquid in a collection container;
- conveying an additive solution into the collection container, said additive solution being located in a storage container which is in automatically restrictable fluid flow communication with the collection container;
- automatically restricting the additive solution to substantially bypass a filtration media when said additive solution is conveyed to the collection container, said filtration media being disposed between the collection container and the storage container;
- conveying the biological liquid and the additive solution into the storage container; and, automatically restricting the biological liquid and the additive solution to substantially pass through the filtration media when the biological liquid and the additive solution are conveyed into the storage container.
- 19. The process of claim 18, wherein the biological liquid is whole blood.
- 20. The process of claim 19, wherein the step of collecting comprises withdrawing said whole blood from a donor by a puncture assembly, said puncture assembly in fluid flow communication with the collection container, and sealingly separating the puncture assembly from fluid flow communication with the collection container wherein said process then comprises a closed in-line filtration process.
- 21. The process of claim 19, further comprising separating the whole blood into blood products.
- 22. The process of claim 21, further comprising conveying at least one blood product of said blood products into a second storage container prior to conveying the additive solution into the collection container.
- 23. The process of claim 21, further comprising filtering leukocytes from the blood or blood products when the biological liquid and the additive solution is conveyed into the storage container.
- 24. The process of claim 18, further comprising sampling the biological liquid.
- 25. The process of claim 18, wherein the steps of automatically restricting the additive solution and automatically restricting the biological liquid and the additive solution comprise at least two automatic control members wherein a first automatic control member is located in a fluid path and a second automatic control member is located in a second fluid path.
- 26. The process of claim 25, wherein the at least two automatic control members each comprise a check valve, a red cell barrier or a combination of a check valve and a red cell barrier.
PRIOR RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority of U.S. provisional application number 60/082,670, filed Apr. 22, 1998, and which is incorporated fully herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (16)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
737-249 |
Jun 1966 |
CAX |
WO 8300813 |
Mar 1983 |
WOX |