A Medical Device Warning for PRP Service Providers
To All Perfusionists:
As most of you are probably aware, PRP or Platelet Gel has become an area where perfusionists have expanded their “scope of practice” over the last few years. This growth area has been very important to many private perfusion groups who have suffered as a result of OPCABGs and advances in stent technology. Many educated medical specialists are predicting the PRP usage will continue to expand over the next five years.
Recently, many new PRP devices have entered the market including the Harvest SmartPRP, the Medtronic Magellan, the Secquire and the Biomet PCCS systems. These “low volume” platelet concentration systems have filled a niche that the original “higher volume” cell saver devices were not designed to handle. Many claims have been made about which of these devices consistently produces the “best” or highest platelet yields. The truth is that they are probably all adequate, and each will find its market or will eventually disappear. In the long run, the devices that produce the best yields and are the more cost effective will prevail.
With that said, I would urge that all perfusionists who provide platelet concentration (PRP) services choose their partners (manufacturers) with caution. There are companies out there that definitely DO NOT have perfusionists best interests at stake. By this, I mean that perfusionists are NOT in their “long-term” plans as providers of platelet concentration services. In general, these companies cater to specific markets where perfusion involvement is low.
If you are a perfusionist, the time is certainly ripe for entry or expansion in the PRP service business. A long-term goal of the Perfusion.com board is to have a high level of perfusion involvement in the PRP service business world-wide. This “expansion of practice” can only be achieved if we are proactive and choose our manufacturing partners with the utmost caution.
For more information about PRP, visit us online at http://gel.perfusion.com
For questions about PRP devices, please email us at [email protected]
Sincerely,
Bryan V. Lich, C.C.P.
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