A new automated, high-performance cell washer enables precise, thorough, reproducible and rapid blood cell washing of up to 24 tubes in a three-minute run. Fully automated, the Thermo Scientific CW3 Cell Washer has been engineered to combine the benefits of efficient performance with user-friendly design and safe operation. Users can select one of the preset programs that have been designed to run in automatic mode, accelerate blood cell washing cycles and achieve significant time savings, while allowing for maximum ease of use and sample safety.
“Effective blood cell washing is extremely important in the removal of plasma and unwanted antibodies to ensure that patients will not be affected by adverse health effects and that blood-transfused products will retain all of their beneficial attributes,” said Hugh Tansey (Thermo Fisher Scientific). “To address this issue, we have developed a special cell washer to help clinical, hospital and serological laboratories, as well as blood bank and transfusion centres, fulfil their fundamental mission to promote the wellbeing of patients.”
The CW3 Cell Washer has been designed to achieve optimal corpuscle dryness by allowing users to preset the desired decanting speed. At the same time, corpuscle washing is improved via the optional overflow method. For washing, tubes swing at a fixed positive angle to sediment cells rapidly at the bottom of the tube, whereas when decanting, the rotor holds tubes at a slightly negative angle and the saline is decanted centrifugally. The result is optimised pelleting performance.
The compact CW3 Cell Washer features an automatic alert mechanism that informs users about low or disrupted saline levels, and when a run is complete. A view port on top of the unit facilitates quick calibration, while the saline distributor is mounted directly on top of the rotor to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
