The operation of blood banks aims at the cost-efficient supply of uncontaminated human blood. Each unit of donated blood goes through multiple testing for the presence of various pathogens which are able to cause transfusion-transmitted diseases. The blood screening process is comprised of two phases. At the first phase, blood units are screened together in pooled groups of a certain size by the ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay) test to detect various virus-specific antibodies. The second phase of the screening process is conducted by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing of the individual blood units of the groups found clean by the initial ELISA phase.
['Shaul K. Bar-Lev', 'Oj Onno Boxma', 'Igor Kleiner', 'David Perry', 'Wolfgang Stadje']
Recycled incomplete identification procedures for blood screening