Abstract:
Method for enhancing the reliability of the traceability of blood samples resulting from collection of whole blood in a mother blood bag using sampling kits, whose contents vary depending on the blood products needed and statutory regulations, and which are mainly composed of bags connected to each other by tubes and incorporating at least one filtration unit. Each bag includes an electronic chip capable of memorising and exchanging information with an electronic communication device. This abstract is not intended to define the invention disclosed in the specification, nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a U.S. National Stage of International Patent Application No. PCT/FR02/02465 filed Jul. 12, 2002 which published as WO 03/011364 on Feb. 13, 2003, and claims priority of French Patent Application No. 01/09246 filed Jul. 12, 2001. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention concerns a method for enhancing the reliability of the traceability of blood samples, more particularly during plasma and red blood cell collection operations. 
     All the blood collected from a donor is transferred into a mother blood bag, connected to the donor via a catheter pushed into a vein, itself attached by a flexible tube to the said mother blood bag placed on a weighing and stirring device which enables a given quantity of blood to be collected. The mother blood bag is connected to other bags whose configurations vary depending on the donor&#39;s characteristics, notably for extracting plasma, red blood cells and even platelets; each blood bag configuration constitutes what is hereinafter called a “sampling kit”. 
     Numerous different sampling kits exist, that evolve depending on working habits and/or regulations; in the following text, a sampling kit is described for use in support of explanations on enhancing the reliability of the traceability of blood bags; these explanations are also valid for sampling kits other than the one described below. 
     For example, the said mother blood bag described above is connected by a second flexible tube to a first leukocyte filter fitted with a by-pass for short-circuiting it, should platelets need to be extracted in a subsequent operation; the first filtration unit is connected by a third flexible tube to a primary blood bag; the primary blood bag is in turn connected to a fourth flexible tube which separates into two to form a fifth flexible tube that incorporates a second filtration unit, connected to a plasma bag and a sixth flexible tube connected to an anti-coagulant bag; the fourth tube is connected to the same side of the primary blood bag as the third tube. The plasma and anti-coagulant bags contain foolproof devices, which are used when the phases are separated. 
     In the following text, a theoretical method for processing whole blood that has been collected is described, but only in support of explanations. 
     Once the whole blood has been collected in the mother blood bag, the first flexible tube is heat-sealed and the mother blood bag, after separation from the catheter is hung upright so that the first filtration unit and the primary blood bag can be hung onto the mother blood bag; the plasma and anti-coagulant bags can be hung, or not, onto the primary blood bag and the fourth tube is stopped to prevent the filtered blood from going into the plasma bag. The second and third tubes are then opened so that the blood contained in the mother blood bag can flow through the first filtering device down into the primary blood bag. 
     Once the blood has been filtered, the third tube is heat-sealed and the unit formed by the first filtration unit and the mother blood bag can be separated from the primary blood bag. 
     The primary blood bag, the plasma bag and the anti-coagulant bag are then placed in a centrifuge; this operation consists firstly in placing a primary blood bag in each of the stiff plastic, completely open centrifuge containers with the third and fourth flexible tube connections facing upwards towards the top of the container and their plasma and anticoagulant bags; then the two containers are each placed on one of the two pans on a pair of scales, for matching their weight accurately for centrifuging; each centrifuge container is placed in one of the two centrifuge bowls in the centrifugal separator; the centrifuging operation is carried out following a pre-set process, then the centrifuged containers are removed from the centrifuge bowls and the centrifuged primary blood bags and plasma and anticoagulant bags are then removed from their containers; any centrifuged primary blood bags that have leaked during this operation are eliminated; the contents of the all other centrifuged primary blood bags include two main phases, which are, on the one hand, a phase with a high red blood cell content that has accumulated in the bottom of the primary blood bag and, on the other hand, a phase composed of plasma that floats on the top; the primary and secondary blood bags are put into a separator. 
     The separator contains three cradles for holding the blood bags; a first cradle is designed for holding the primary blood bag, a second cradle is for the plasma bag and a third cradle for the anticoagulant bag; the first cradle is placed beneath the two other cradles; the three cradles each form an enclosed, normally parallelepiped shaped cavity with two large side faces that are composed of, on one side, a flat door covering virtually the total surface of the face and which opens up to the outside of the separator, and, on the other side, a non-fixed flat sidewall capable of moving in parallel to itself on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the main faces. 
     With the phase containing the high red blood cell content at the bottom, the primary blood bag is positioned vertically in the first cradle, whose mobile vertical sidewall has been pushed sufficiently far backwards for the bag to be completely inserted and the door to be closed; the plasma bag intended for holding the plasma is placed in the second cradle that notably contains a guide system for preventing the anticoagulant bag from being inserted in its place; the anticoagulant bag contains anticoagulant intended for use with the phase with the high red blood cell content; this bag is placed in the third cradle, which also contains a guide system and a mobile sidewall, which has been pushed sufficiently far backwards for the bag to be inserted; the fifth tube passes through a first closing device, located between the second filtration unit and the plasma bag, which enables the tube either to be temporarily closed by compressing it, or to be heat-sealed and cut for separating the primary blood bag from the plasma bag containing the plasma; this operation is carried out by cutting the tube in such a way that the tube is heat-sealed on both the primary blood bag side and the plasma bag side; similarly the sixth tube goes through a second closing device, which, as described above, either compresses the sixth tube to close it temporarily or permanently closes it by heat-sealing and then separates the anticoagulant bag from the primary blood bag. 
     On starting up the separator, after the primary blood bag, the plasma bag and the anticoagulant bag have been put in place, the second closing device compresses the sixth tube to hold it closed, whereas the fifth tube remains open from end to end; the mobile sidewall on the second cradle, driven by a pressure cylinder, comes into contact with the plasma bag, whilst the mobile sidewall in the first cradle is pushed by a pressure cylinder to compress the primary blood bag sufficiently for expelling the plasma upwards through the second filtration unit toward the plasma bag which gradually swells and pushes the second cradle&#39;s mobile sidewall backwards; an optical control device, through which the fourth tube passes, detects the arrival of the phase with the high red blood cell content, at which time a new operation is set off that consists, notably, of closing the fifth tube, heat-sealing and cutting it, followed by opening the sixth tube, which allows the contents of the anticoagulant bag to be transferred to the primary blood bag, by compressing the former and easing back the mobile sidewall on the first cradle; the sixth tube is then heat-sealed and cut so that the anticoagulant bag is separated from the primary blood bag. The phase with the high red blood cell content remains in the primary blood bag and the sixth tube is heat-sealed and cut to separate it from the anticoagulant bag that is now empty. 
     During these different operations, information on each operation must be added to previously obtained information, and all the information must be completely transferred several times: information on the mother blood bag must be completed by information on the filtration process, all of which information must then be transferred to the primary blood bag, because the mother blood bag and the first filtration unit are removed after the third tube has been heat-sealed and cut; specific filtration information needing to be transferred includes, for example, the identity of operators, the references of support equipment, the duration of the operation, the date on which the operation was completed (in this case the word “date” signifies date and time) and any possible incidents. The conditions under which centrifugation has been carried out are marked on the primary blood bag; they refer, for example, to the machine number, the operator&#39;s identity, centrifugation speed and duration and any possible incidents that may have occurred during the operation. Separation of the phase with the high red blood cell content from the plasma implies putting new information onto the plasma bag that comes from the primary blood bag, together with information concerning the separation operation, as well as any new information that may need to be put on the primary blood bag concerning the anticoagulant bag and the separation operation. 
     The large number of operations to be carried out for recopying information and the need to put new information on the blood bag concerned after each operation is a source of error liable to make it impossible to trace blood samples correctly. 
     A device for tracing blood samples, as per patent EP 1 072 030, is under development: it associates an electronic chip with the blood bag; every electronic chip contains a loop antenna, which communicates with a loop antenna on an electronic communication device connected to a computer system capable of supplying the electronic chip with energy, on the one hand, and, on the other, with data which it stores in memory and which it is capable of restoring to the said computer through the electronic communication device; an electronic mother chip is attached to the mother blood bag which receives all the data concerning the donor and the results of analyses for qualifying the mother blood bag; the electronic mother chip is, for example, fixed on a possibly rectangular-shaped flexible chip support several centimeters long, on which is printed a metallized loop circuit that forms the communications loop antenna; in a preferred version of the invention, the flexible chip support for the electronic mother chip is placed on one of the main surfaces of the mother blood bag beneath a rectangular label covering the major part of one of the main surfaces. The primary electronic chip equipping the primary blood bag is placed under a label that covers the main surface but in a different place when compared with the mother blood bag so that, when the mother and primary blood bags are placed one above the other, the mother and primary chips are not above each other. The same system applies for the first and second electronic chips equipping the plasma and anticoagulant bags. Preferably, chip supports are always put in the same position in relation to the label so as to make it easier to position the antenna on the electronic communication device, for recording details on the blood donor and collection conditions on the electronic mother chip on the mother blood bag. 
     The purpose of the invention lies in adapting equipment used in filtration, centrifugation and separation operations for enhancing the reliability of the traceability of blood samples contained in blood bags equipped with electronic chips. 
    
    
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       On the appended drawings: 
         FIG. 1  represents a schematic diagram on enhancement of traceability reliability during the different filtration phases. 
         FIG. 2  represents a schematic diagram on enhancement of traceability reliability during the different centrifugation phases: an exploded view is given of a centrifuge container. 
         FIG. 3  represents a schematic diagram on enhancement of traceability reliability during the different centrifugation phases. 
         FIG. 4A  represents the hook on the hanging unit used for hanging mother blood bags prior to filtration. 
         FIG. 4B  shows the hook on the hanging unit in position for unloading the mother blood bag, when the bags are empty after filtration. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In a preferred version, the invention consists of incorporating into each filtration, centrifugation and separation machine process computerized system of collecting and processing information concerning blood sample traceability, coming from the blood bag to be processed, from the machine itself and from machine operators; these information technology resources are associated with a system of collecting information and transferring it to the blood bag(s) containing the transformed blood products, completed by methods of enhancing reliability that more particularly concern handling: at the beginning of the operation, collecting information consists of collecting information contained in the electronic chip of the blood bag to be processed and completing it with information concerning processing conditions, which are, for example, collected from the machine controller, notably, for example, the date, the number of the machine and its operating parameters, the said information also being supplied by the operator who may, for example, identify himself either via a badge or by using the keyboard. Information concerning the filtration unit  1  ( FIG. 1 ) is transferred to the primary blood bag  3  when it is full of blood filtered through a first filtration unit  5  that has initially come from mother blood bag  2 ; information concerning the centrifugation device  4  ( FIG. 2 ) is transferred to the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  which, before centrifuging, used to be the primary filtered blood bag  30 : information concerning the separation device  6  ( FIG. 3 ) coming from the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  and the anticoagulant bag  8  is transferred, on the one hand, to the plasma bag  7 , after it has been filled with plasma and, on the other hand, to the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  when it only contains the phase with the high red blood cell content; information collection and transfer methods are completed by methods of enhancing reliability, that consist of, on the one hand, transmitting the information to the right consignee bag and, on the other hand, transmitting all the information required for guaranteeing correct traceability. 
     Concerning the filtration unit  1  ( FIG. 1 ), one way of proceeding consists, for example, in positioning hooks  9  for the mother blood bags  2 , that are incorporated in a filtration unit, programmed to command filtration operations; the number of hooks  9  is determined by the number of bags to be processed per day; the hooks  9  can be fixed or incorporated into a carousel; for example, hook  9  ( FIG. 4A ) is equipped with an opening-closing system  10  operated, for example, via a first electro-mechanical device  12  controlled by an electronic control system  11  ( FIG. 1 ) incorporated into the filtration unit. When at rest, hooks  9  are closed, and a mother blood sample cannot be hung on them; the machine possesses, for example, a first computerised management device  13 , especially for the filtration unit  1 , controlled from a keyboard  14 , through which permanent operating parameters can be entered into the filtration unit such as, for example, the date, the machine number, the conditions to be met for opening or closing hook  9 , together with variable parameters such as, for example, the identity of the operator or information concerning problems of filtration: an electronic communication device  15 , handled by the operator is connected to the first computerised management device  13 ; with the first electronic communication device  15 , the operator reads the contents of the mother chip  16  on the mother bag  2 , records them in the first computerised management device  13 , adds the date of the beginning of the filtration process and allocates a hook  9  to the mother bag  2  concerned; the hook  9  ( FIG. 4   a ) selected then opens, activated, for example, by the first electro-mechanical device  12  controlled in turn by the first computerised management device  13  ( FIG. 1 ) via the electronic control device  11 . When, for example, the hook  9  arrives at a loading point  69 ; the hook is opened by tilting the opening-closing device  10  ( FIG. 4A ), which puts a helical spring  17  under tension; when the operator hangs the blood bag  2  on selected hook  9  ( FIG. 4A ), the weight of the bag makes the hook  9  close by pulling it downwards, compressing the coil spring  18  and relieving the tension on the helix spring  17 , which pulls down the opening-closing device  10 ; a limit switch then indicates that the mother blood bag is hooked on correctly; when the filtration operation is over, the operator, on observing that this is the case, gives the order for opening the hook concerned  19  ( FIG. 4B ), either by using his keyboard  14  ( FIG. 1 ) or by a specific control system close to the hook  19 , and a new date is entered in the first computerised management device  13 ; the hook  19  ( FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4B ) opening at the unloading point  21 , for example, by activating a second electromechanical device  23  that pushes on the opening-closing device  24  and puts the helix spring  26  under tension; the empty mother blood bag  20  is removed when it arrives at unloading station  21 ; it is placed on a heat-sealing and cutting apparatus  22  and the hook  19  is re-closed; it is re-closed, for example, by withdrawing the second electromechanical device  23  and releasing the tension on the helix spring  26  when at unloading station  21  and the escape and upward movement of the hook  19  due to the compressed coil spring  25  that is activated when the hook  19  leaves the unloading station  21  and rises upwards: a limit switch indicates that the mother blood bag has been unloaded, and, when it has been separated from the primary blood bag and information has been correctly transmitted to the primary blood bag, the hook  19  is then ready for re-use. 
     The heat-sealing and cutting device  22  ( FIG. 1 ) includes a first heat-sealing device  35  that heat-seals the third tube  34  and separates the empty mother blood bag  20  together with its first filtration unit  5  from the primary blood bag  30  by cutting the tube in the centre of the part of the tube closed by heat-sealing; the heat-sealing and cutting apparatus  22  also contains, for example, a first compartment  27 , in which the empty mother blood bag is placed; this first compartment  27  is fitted with a second electronic communication device  28  that re-reads the contents of the electronic mother chip  29  on the empty mother blood bag  20  and identifies the mother blood bag concerned  2  in the first computerised management device  13 ; the primary blood bag  30  is placed in a second compartment  31  fitted with a third electronic communication device  32  that records the data on this sample contained in the first computerised management device  13  onto the primary electronic chip  33 ; the third tube  34  is inserted in the heat-sealing and welding device  35 ; then, when all the information has been transmitted correctly, the computerised management device  13  gives an order to the electronic control device  11  for the first heat-sealing and cutting device  35  to carry out a heat-sealing and cutting operation with the cut made in the middle of the heat-sealed section. 
     Concerning the centrifuging function, the centrifuging device  4  ( FIG. 2 ) is equipped with a second computerized management device  36  connected to a fourth electronic communication device  37  and to a keyboard  38 , which is capable of receiving all information on centrifugation conditions directly. Before inserting each of the two primary blood bags  30 , into one of the centrifuge containers  39 , the primary electronic chips  33  are read by the fourth electronic communication device  37  and the information they contain is stored partially or completely in the second computerized management device  36 . As all the information on centrifugation must be put back on the same primary blood bag  30  that has now been centrifuged and is hereafter called “the centrifuged primary blood bag  40 ”, only information needed for identifying the primary blood bag  30  can be used. Then, the primary blood bag  30  is inserted into the centrifuge container  39  which is fitted with a container electronic chip  45 , constituting a system of identification, integrated, for example, into its side-wall, and which contains identification criteria that is specific to the centrifuge container in question and into which a fifth electronic communication device  44  sends the characteristics of the primary blood bag  30  that it contains. The primary blood bag  30  should preferably be fitted with a foolproof device that enables the blood bag to be positioned so that connections for the third and fourth tubes are on the top of the container. The centrifuge container  39  may also be equipped with a foolproof device  68  constituting a system of identification and which obliges the operator to place it systematically in the same centrifuge bowl  46  on the centrifuge  48 . The foolproof device may be in the form of a pin  70  placed in the bottom of the centrifuge bowl  46  that fits into the foolproof device  68  constituted by a cavity made in the bottom of the centrifuge container  39 . The information for assigning centrifuge bowl  46  to centrifuge container  39  is recorded on the container&#39;s electronic chip  45 , so that all information concerning the centrifuge bowl  46  is transferred to the blood bag concerned  40  at the same time as post-centrifuging information is transferred. Then, the operator, using keyboard  38 , for example, can enter into the second computerized management device  36 , any variable information, such as his identity or incident reports such as double centrifugation should the primary transfused blood bag  40  have been put in its container  45  upside down. When all the information to be possessed by the second computerized management device  36  is available and entered, the centrifuge cycle can be carried out: parameters displayed for the centrifuging operation and real centrifuging characteristics are supplied by the electronic control device  41  and entered directly into the second computerized management device  36 , for example the rotation speed in relation to the time can be entered into this device by way of a speed measuring device  47 , which, after integrating the data mathematically, enables a centrifugation index to be deduced. After centrifuging, a sixth communication device  42  is used for identifying the primary centrifuged blood bag concerned  40  and the centrifuge container  39  that contains it, so that further information can be entered into it, for example new information concerning centrifuging conditions and notably any information that specifically concerns the centrifuge bowl  46  that held the primary centrifuged blood bag  40 . Although, in the description, the electronic communication devices  37 ,  44 ,  42  are presented as being different every time, a single electronic communication device can be used for several workstations depending on how it has been programmed. This remark is of course valid for the filtration and separation stations. To improve the operation&#39;s reliability, safety devices are put in place that may, for example, prevent the centrifuge from starting up if any information whatsoever has not been collected or transmitted by the second computerised management device  36 . 
     The separation function is composed of a separation device  6  ( FIG. 3 ) equipped with a third computerized management device  43  connected to a seventh electronic communication device  48 , to a keyboard  49 , and, for example, to an electronic control device  50  that commands the separation cycle. The operator may, for example, enter his identity using keyboard  49  and then, by way of the seventh electronic communication device  48 , recopy all the information contained in the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  to store it in the third computerized management device  43 . Information coming from the phase separation cycle is incorporated into the third computerized management device  43  and is then transmitted, on the one hand, to the plasma bag  7  containing the plasma phase and, on the other hand, to the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  that now only contains the phase with a high red blood cell content, a part of its contents having come from the anticoagulant bag  8 . 
     A way of transferring this information consists of installing a seventh electronic communication device  48  in the flat door of the first cradle  51  so as to be able to recopy the contents of the chip on the primary centrifuged blood bag  40 , only when it is in place for the separation operation; similarly, the eighth and ninth electronic communication devices  52  and  53 , connected to the third computerised management device  43 , are placed respectively in the doors of the second and third cradles  54  and  55 . 
     The plugs are removed from the fourth, fifth and sixth tubes  56 ,  66 ,  63  which are then inserted into a second and third heat-sealing and cutting device  60  and  61  which are also capable of compressing the tube to stop it. 
     An optical detection device  62  is put on the fourth tube  56 . The fourth tube is left open and the sixth tube  63  is compressed closed by the third heat-sealing and cutting device  61 . 
     To begin with, the mobile sidewall  59  in the first cradle  51  ejects the plasma which is pumped into the plasma bag  7  through the second filtration unit  67  on the fifth tube  66 , which pushes the mobile sidewall  64  in the second cradle backwards; when the optical detection device  62  detects the arrival of the phase with the high red blood cell content, the mobile sidewall  59  is prevented from moving any further backwards and the plasma bag  7  is then re-closed and separated from the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  by the second heat-sealing and cutting device  60 ; the third computerised management device  43  sends information to the first electronic chip  57 ; then the third heat-sealing and cutting device  61  opens up the sixth tube  63  and the mobile sidewall  65  in the third cradle  55  begins to push the anticoagulant into the primary centrifuged blood bag  40 , pushing the mobile sidewall  59  in the first cradle  51  backwards, until it reaches its rearmost limit; the third heat-sealing and cutting device  61  closes the sixth tube  63  and separates the anticoagulant bag  8  from the primary centrifuged blood bag  40 , which contains the phase with a high red blood cell content; the second electronic chip  58  on the anticoagulant bag  8  is then interrogated by the ninth electronic communication device  53  just before the heat-sealing and cutting process and the information is transferred to the primary electronic chip  33 . As the cycle is now finished, the plasma bag  7  and the primary centrifuged blood bag  40  containing the phase with a high red blood cell content can be removed from their cradles  54  and  51 . The machine cycle is stopped at each phase for transferring information until all the information awaited or transmitted by the third computerised management device  43  is entered. 
     In the context of perfecting the invention, the primary electronic chip  33 , and the first and second electronic chips  57  and  58  are identified depending on the bags concerned  3 ,  7 ,  8 , and are then inhibited, with all the uninhibit codes being on the mother blood bag  2 . In this way, electronic chips  33 ,  57 ,  58 , respectively on primary blood bag  3  (successively becoming primary blood bag  30  when it has been filtered and primary centrifuged blood bag  40 ), plasma bag  7  and anticoagulant bag  8  are un-inhibited one after the other as operations progress by transmitting codes from one point to the next: this mode of operation avoids, for example, sending information intended for the primary blood bag  3 ,  30 ,  40  to one of the plasma or anticoagulant bags  7  or  8  by mistake.