Human blood platelets at microgravityA set of freshly collected and separated human platelet suspensions were transported, in three types of plastic containers, on a 6 day, 2 hr mission of the orbiter Columbia to study the effect of prolonged exposure of human blood cells to microgravity. A controlled environment at a temperature of 22 + or - 1 deg with air flow was provided and another set of samples held on the ground acted as controls. Paired comparisons of platelets at ug versus controls at lxg revealed superior platelet survival at microgravity. When viewed in terms of plastic type, ug platelets in containers fabricated from PVC-TOTM displayed the best overall postflight viability.
Document ID
19880028950
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Surgenor, D. MACN. (Harvard Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Ausprunk, D. (Harvard Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Blevins, D. (Harvard Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Chao, F. C. (Harvard Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Curby, W. (Harvard University; Lahey Clinic, Boston, MA; Massachusetts, University, Worcester, United States)