Patent ID: 8637231

Claim:
A method of increasing the volume of available blood substitute for treatment in a subject in need thereof, comprising: obtaining a volume of donor blood; determining the hematocrit (Hct) of said donor blood; isolating red blood cells (RBCs) from said donor blood; and diluting said isolated RBCs with a plasma expander to a final Hct of not less than 10% but not greater than 70%, wherein said plasma expander consists essentially of: (a) from 0.1 to 10 percent by weight of basic alpha keratose; said basic alpha keratose having an average molecular weight of from 10 to 100 kilodaltons; (b) from 0 to 5 percent by weight of gamma keratose; and (c) from 90 to 99.9 percent by weight of an electrolyte solution; with said basic alpha keratose and said gamma keratose solubilized in said electrolyte solution to form a homogeneous liquid composition having: (i) a pH of 7-8; (ii) an osmolarity of 200 to 500 milliosmoles/Liter; and (iii) a viscosity of 2 to 20 centipoise at a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius as determined with a Brookfield viscometer having a cone and plate geometry with a cone angle of 0.02 radians at a constant frequency of 30 rotations per minute.