How Does Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Work?
I'm no stranger to using cutting-edge technology. Many athletes like Tiger Woods have had their injuries treated with Platelet Rich Plasma to speed up the healing process.
What is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)?
It is derived from your blood. Your blood is mostly plasma with red cells, white cells, and platelets. You might be familiar with platelets being the reason your blood clots, but did you know that your platelets also contain proteins that are called growth factors. It is the growth factors in the platelets that are the key, as they are very important in healing.
The following is the process involved with obtaining a concentration of Platelet Rich Plasma. All pictures are my own.
The whole blood needs to be transfered to a sterile bottle that is designed for the centrifuge machine and also allows for maximum plasma removal. To balance the whole blood while in the centrifuge, it must be weighed, and an equal weight of saline is placed in another bottle.
After the centrifuge, the plasma is clearly separated from the red blood cells (left picture). Next the plasma, (right picture) which contains the platelets, must be extracted, leaving the red blood cells to be discarded.
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This gif shows that you stop extracting when you see red blood cells in the tube.
The plasma only is now transfered into a bottle that is not only designed for the centrifuge but for maximum removal of Platelet Rich Plasma. Once again the centrifuge is used on the plasma only. This separates the Platelet POOR Plasma (on top) and the Platelet RICH Plasma (on the bottom). The Platelet POOR Plasma is extracted to the level shown on the far right.
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This gif shows the process to extract the Platelet Rich Plasma.
The left picture shows the trace amount of red blood cells that adhered to the bottom. The right picture shows the final products - One large syringe of Platelet Poor Plasma and 2 1/4 syringes of Platelet Rich Plasma.
The Platelet Rich Plasma is then injected to the injured area. There are many applications such as for ligaments, tendons, wound healing to name a few, but this whole process is dependant upon your health. If you have healthy blood, you should have great results.
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Very out of this world information @steem-samiam. Thanks for sharing.
Aww, thank you very much :)
I thought/heard they heated the specimen before injecting it to activate these "growth factors"
No, they don't heat anything, but very interesting. The concept, in a nutshell, is to get a concentration of the "growth factor" platelets and re-inject them asap with a 6-hour deadline. Thanks for your comments, always appreciated.
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Interesting post @streem-samiam loved reading your post fella keep steeming!!
Interesting article. There seem to have been a lot of interesting medical developments lately, too.
Now, if they can just come up with a way to fix my eyes...
Information is the key, that's for your sight
Really nice to know!
You work in a lab or you got the opportunity to visit one such lab?
In any case really awesome to see how platelets are separated from the blood!
So glad you enjoyed. I had my natural path doc do the PRP on myself :)
This is supercool! @steem-samiam Thanks! Followed...
Thank you!
@steem-samiam Steemit is gonna change lots of lifes, it has changed mine and many others but that is just the beginning. Followed
A very didactic post. I liked that you teach the procedure of separation of the different blood components.
Wow, that's such a huge compliment :) Thanks