Patent ID: 7201848

Claim:
A method of debulking red blood cells from white blood cells comprising rotating a fluid chamber ( 18 , 118 ) loading the fluid chamber ( 18 , 118 ) through its inlet ( 22 , 122 ) with a blood product containing at least white blood cells and red blood cells; adding a low density fluid to the loaded blood product to encourage rouleaux of the red blood cells and to increase their sedimentation velocity; sedimenting the red blood cells from the white blood cells in the rotating fluid chamber ( 18 , 118 ) under a centrifugal force; and removing the sedimented red blood cells from the white blood cells during the rotating step from the rotating fluid chamber ( 18 , 118 ) through the fluid chamber inlet ( 22 , 122 ); wherein the fluid comprises Hydroxyethyl Starch.