Collection efficiency in apheresis.

Significant advances in procedural information displayed by current apheresis machines have been made, but analyses of cell collection efficiency (CE) still rely on calculations done by apheresis professionals. Accordingly, understanding CE equations can support the optimization of apheresis techniques and identification of incidents that could impact the procedure's effectiveness. This report summarizes classical and novel CE analyses applied to apheresis exemplified by an actual case of hematopoietic progenitor cell collection. In addition to the apheresis yield and most common CE1 and CE2 formulas, we present the instantaneous and corrected CE, fold enrichment, collection throughput, collection rate and its variants, average inlet rate, classical and adjusted captured cells, recruitment pool, recruitment factor, recruitment coefficient, blood component loss, predictive apheresis yield, and performance ratio calculations. Moreover, the mathematical relationship between these CE equations is also shown, which can be helpful in many apheresis procedures.

Tele-ECP: A feasible telemedicine-based approach to extracorporeal photopheresis.

The acquisition of telecommunication technologies in clinical practices is transforming medical care capabilities, whereas applying telemedicine in apheresis medicine has resulted in the revolutionary concept of "telapheresis." This manuscript aims to describe the regulatory landscape of telapheresis by presenting the first "tele-ECP" (telemedicine-based approach to extracorporeal photopheresis) reported in the United Arab Emirates. The tele-ECP procedure was done successfully in a patient with chronic graft-versus-host disease, who, despite having one vascular access-related adverse event, it was solved promptly without further complications. Therefore, this telemedicine-based approach arose as a feasible practice, but required direct physical contact with other trained and privileged/credentialed staff.