Demo - IH training Module 01

1940s

Transfusion medicine

Scotland

Facilities that practice transfusion medicine are tasked with ensuring that blood products are safe and compatible for the patients to which they are transfused.

Immunohematology Reference Laboratory (IRL)

Hospital Blood Bank or Transfusion Service

Blood Donor Center

Z Bioscience

Originally established in Scotland in the 1940s as Z Bioscience, Q. is a commercial-stage diagnostics company that is fully committed to delivering solutions that reshape the ways transfusion medicine diagnostics is practiced. Q. has two product lines supporting transfusion medicine diagnostics:

• Alpha by Q.
• M2x by Q.

Immunohematology Reference Laboratory

Specialized laboratories with the capacity and expertise to resolve more complex antibody investigations and supply suitable blood products for transfusion.

• IRLs can be located within blood donor centers or hospital blood banks
• Theses laboratories maintain a robust reagent inventory, often stocking multiple sources of blood grouping reagents

Transfusion medicine is a branch of medicine which involves both laboratory and clinical aspects of transfusion.

Collection, preparation and testing of blood products intended for transfusion are parts of blood banking activities.

Pre-transfusion testing

• Type and screen: ABORh type and screen for unexpected antibodies
• Antibody identification (if needed): identification of unexpected alloantibodies detected in the antibody screen
• Crossmatch: confirmation that the donor blood component is compatible with the intended patient

Hospital Blood Bank or Transfusion Service

Additional testing (not inclusive of all possible tests)

Perform routine patient testing and prepare blood products for transfusion.

• Direct antiglobulin test
• Antigen typing of patient samples and donor units
• Donor unit ABORh confirmation

Tests routinely performed on donor units:

• Type and screen: ABO and RhD type, screen for unexpected alloantibodies - also known as antibody detection
• Inectious disease testing (upon local regulaitons): Hepatitis B and C, HIV, HTLV, Syphilis, WNV, Zika, Babesia, Trypanosoma cruzi, CMV.

Blood Donor Center

Blood donor centers collect blood from volunteer donors and performs a series of tests to characterize and ensure the safety of each unit.