Particle separation using ultrasound can be used with human shed mediastinal blood.

Shed mediastinal blood collected by cardiotomy suction has been shown to be a large contributor to lipid microemboli ending up in different organs. The aim of this study was to test the separation efficiency on human shed blood of a new separation method developed to meet this demand. METHODS: Shed mediastinal blood collected from the pericardial cavity of 13 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass was collected. The blood was processed in an eight-channel parallel PARSUS separator, and separation efficiency was determined. RESULTS: Erythrocyte recovery, in terms of a separation ratio, varied between 68% and 91%. Minor electrolyte changes took place, where levels of sodium increased and levels of potassium and calcium decreased. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that PARSUS technology can be used on human shed mediastinal blood with good separation efficiency. The technology is, thereby, suggested to have future clinical relevance.