Patent ID: 7186231

Claim:
A blood component collection method using a blood component collection system comprising: a blood component collection circuit including: a centrifugal separator including a rotor that has a blood reservoir space therein and further including an inlet and an outlet which communicate with the blood reservoir space, and centrifuging blood introduced through the inlet with the rotation of the rotor, into a plurality of components in the blood reservoir space; a first container for temporarily reserving therein a first blood component; a cell separating filter for separating or reducing a predetermined kind of cells from the first blood component; and a second container for reserving the first blood component having passed through the cell separating filter, channel open/close means for opening or closing a channel linking the first container and the cell separating filter; a centrifugal separator driving unit for rotating the rotor of the centrifugal separator; and control means for controlling action of the channel open/close means and the centrifugal separator driving unit; the method comprising steps of: (A) activating the centrifugal separator driving unit under control of the control means to rotate the rotor, thereby centrifugally separating the blood in the blood reservoir space into a plurality of blood components and collecting the separated first blood component from the centrifugal separator into the first container; (B) carrying the first blood component in the first container to the second container through the channel linking the first container and the cell separating filter and through the cell separating filter while the channel open/close means is opened under control of the control means; (C) supplying a second blood component through the first container, the channel linking the first container and the cell separating filter and through the cell separating filter into the second container; and collecting the first blood component, from which the predetermined kind of cells remaining in the cell separating filter have been separated or reduced, together with the second blood component into the second container, wherein the step (C) further includes adjusting a full amount of a blood component to be collected into the second container according to a fed amount of the second blood component.