Evaluation of the PDQ™ centrifuge for preparing platelet rich, platelet poor and platelet free plasma samples for light transmission aggregometry and microparticle measurement

Figures & data

Table I.  Comparison of PRP prepared by a standard centrifugation protocol (170 g for 10 minutes) and the PDQ™ centrifuge (2220 g for 30 seconds).

	Standard protocol	PDQ™
Volume of PRP obtained	1.62 mL (±0.44)	1.75 mL (±0.46)
Platelet count (×10^9/L)	389 (±72)	197 (±65)^1
MPV (fl)	8.5 (±0.5)	7.6 (±0.5)^1
PDW(fl)	10.7 (±1.2)	9.4 (±0.8)^1
P-LCR (fl)	16.4 (±3.9)	10.3 (±3.1)^1
0.5 µM ADP (%MA)	38.4 (±32.2)	1.2 (±8.8)^1
1 µM ADP (%MA)	57.3 (±33.7)	20.0 (±9.6)^1
2.5 µM ADP (%MA)	76.7 (±22.5)	59.3 (±17.1)^1
5 µM ADP (%MA)	85.3 (±5.6)	78.9 (±7.0)^1

¹p < 0.05 (paired t-test).

Results expressed as mean ± SD. MA = maximal aggregation.

Figure 1. Box plots (median and IQR) showing the comparison of the platelet counts as measured by either impedance (a) or flow cytometry (b) in platelet poor plasma (PPP) and platelet free plasma (PFP) samples prepared by standard methods (Old) or the PDQ™ centrifuge (PDQ). There were significantly higher (p < 0.05, Wilkoxon paired test) numbers of platelets measured by flow cytometry in the PPP and PFP samples prepared by the PDQ centrifuge compared to standard methods.