Blood bags are typically placed in a centrifuge cup when centrifuged in order to separate blood into its various constituents within the blood bag. If the blood bag is not properly supported while being centrifuged, a certain percentage of the bags will suffer from buckling, which interferes with the blood constituent separation, or from splitting which results in the total loss of the blood and presents a need for unwanted clean-up efforts. Thus, a need has existed for improved centrifuge insert devices for support of bags.
Various devices have been proposed in the past, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,949, a bridge is attached to the upper edge of the centrifuge cup in order to suspend a blood collection bag in within the cup together with an expresser for expressing centrifuged blood from the bag. Another form of support is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,084 wherein a supporting structure was provided in order to hold the bag in an upstanding position to prevent buckling of the bag that would tend to trap blood within the folds of the bag thus hindering the separation process. Yet another device for holding the ports at the top of a blood bag is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,739. Even in light of these various devices, a need has continued to exist for improved blood bag supporting inserts for centrifuge cups.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds