An Experimental Repeatability Evaluation of Running Laboratory Equipment for Heating Donor Blood Plasma Prior to Transfusion

The problem of detecting and avoiding local overheating of donor plasma during technological operations to prepare it for transfusion using laboratory equipment is discussed. The work was performed in the course of fundamental research on the influence of thermal and mechanical effects during thawing of human blood plasma on the preservation of its haemostatic indices. The aim of the presented work was to experimentally evaluate the repeatability of plasma heating at $+45^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ with four levels of intensity, using laboratory equipment for the preparation of donor blood components for transfusion. By repeating the process operation in four modes, the average duration of the temperature change of the thermophysical equivalent of $2.3 \mathrm{~mL}$ of plasma from $+6^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ to $+36.6^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$, as well as the maximum local exceedances of the target temperature, were determined. This paper presents a comparison between the results of fullscale experiments and numerical simulations using the model developed during the fundamental research. It follows from the results that experimental heating of blood plasma at $+45^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ can be performed up to $+36.6^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ with different intensities, avoiding local exceedances of the biomaterial temperature of $+37^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ and ensuring multiple repeatability. Besides applicability for finding more efficient modes of plasma thawing and heating prior to transfusion, the presented results of the work are significant for preparing studies in which the correct hypothesis may be rejected due to the local exceeding of the level of permissible thermal effects.