Apheresis is an unusual kind of blood donation.
Instead of giving whole blood, as in a regular donation, a donor gives a specific component of blood. Such components include plasma, platelets or white cells. In a regular whole blood donation, blood is drawn from the arm in about six to eight minutes. Because your body needs time to replace its iron loss, a 56 day interval is required between blood donations. An apheresis donation takes about one and a half hours.