Patent ID: 8173066

Claim:
A method for inactivating pathogens and/or leucocytes in platelet concentrates (PCs) comprising the steps: providing PCs obtained from donor blood and/or by mechanical apheresis, exposing the PCs to irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light, in which the PCs consist of a plurality of units which are able to be handled individually and stored separately, and the PC units are each placed in flexible, UV-penetrable flat exposure bags, wherein the exposure bags are filled to less than 30% of the maximum filling volume of the exposure bags and the exposure bags are moved during the irradiation with UV light so that the contents of the exposure bags are circulated and zones of changing layer thicknesses are formed by the movement, said ultraviolet light having UVC with a wavelength of about 200 nm to less than about 280 nm and having a light energy of about 0.01 to about 2 J/cm 2 .