By dmhuser August 29, 2023 - 11:19pm

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy has gained immense popularity in recent years as a natural and effective treatment for a variety of medical and aesthetic conditions. PRP kits play a pivotal role in facilitating the process, enabling the extraction and application of platelet-rich plasma. In this blog, we delve into the world of PRP kits, exploring their components, usage, benefits, and applications.

1. Understanding Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy

Whole blood consists of many different components, each with different functions.  Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) is created when we separate out two of those components, plasma and platelets, to form a new substance.  By separating out as many of the platelets as we can from a sample of whole blood and concentrating them into a small volume of the plasma from the same sample of whole blood we create Platelet-Rich-Plasma.  Platelets play a pivotal role in tissue healing.  Imagine you got a small cut on your finger; your body responds by entering what is called the healing cascade.  The four parts of the healing cascade are barrier, inflammation, tissue regeneration and finally tissue remodeling.  The cut on your finger signals platelets to begin aggregating to form a clot or barrier.  As these platelets coalesce, they open, and release proteins contained inside of them called growth factors.  This creates inflammation and the growth factors signal progenitor cells to the area and direct them in the healing process.  This is the tissue regeneration phase.  Once enough new tissue has been created it will remodel into a tiny scar.  The general idea behind PRP is to artificially create a higher concentration of platelets over the whole blood baseline amount and inject them into an area of the body where we want to stimulate the healing cascade when it would otherwise be inactive.  

2. The Role of PRP Kits: Breaking Down the Components

The most popular way of separating whole blood components into a platelet enriched plasma solution is using a centrifuge.  Although not a part of a PRP “kit” centrifuges are integral to the process and many of them are proprietary to the specific kit being used, such as EmCyte’s Platinum and Executive series centrifuges.  PRP kits themselves generally consist of blood draw syringes, an anti-coagulant solution to prevent the blood from clotting prematurely during centrifugation, one or two tubes of various sizes to spin the blood in, and finally syringes to draw off the final PRP solution.

3. How to Use a PRP Kit: Step-by-Step Guide

There is a wide range of variability between PRP kits and how they operate to process PRP.  In this example we will be discussing the steps for processing an EmCyte Pure PRP kit.  Note: this does not take the place of the manufacturer IFU – follow the IFU precisely.  Step 1: Pre-fill blood draw syringe with anti-coagulant (roughly 10% of whole blood draw).Step 2: Fill the remainder of the syringe with whole blood.Step 3: Transfer the anti-coagulated whole blood to the first spin tube via self-sealing port.Step 4: Spin in Platinum Centrifuge for 2 minutes.Step 5: Remove the first tube from centrifuge and draw off the Platelet-Plasma-Suspension (PPS) into one of the provided syringes.Step 6: Place the PPS into the second spin tube via the self-sealing port.Step 7: Spin in Platinum Centrifuge for 6 minutes.Step 8: Remove the second tube from the centrifuge and draw off the top layer of Platelet-Poor-Plasma.Step 9: Resuspend the platelets into the remaining plasma creating a PRP solution and draw it out into a provided syringe.

4. Advantages of PRP Kits

There are many advantages of using a commercially available PRP kit such as the EmCyte Pure PRP kit.  First, these are FDA approved medical devices that are specifically indicated to create PRP.  Second is reliability and reproducibility.  These kits have been used for many years and have been the subject of numerous studies detailing their ability to concentrate platelets.  Finally, the kits are completely self-contained.  There are no other items you need to purchase or have on hand – everything you need to create the PRP is contained in the sterile sealed kit.

5. Applications of PRP Therapy

Although PRP kits themselves have an FDA indication to prepare a PRP solution, PRP itself has no specific indication for use.  Physicians throughout numerous specialties such as orthopedics, pain management, dermatology etc. can decide how best to apply PRP.

6. Safety and Considerations with PRP Kits 

The main safety consideration with PRP kits is infection control. This is why you want to select a PRP kit from an established manufacturer with an FDA indication.  Not only to be assured of the sterility and manufacturing process, but to be confident that the kit you are using has been safely and successfully used to create PRP for many years.  Another consideration is how the PRP is processed.  Since PRP preparation requires a whole blood draw and subsequent transfer into and out of processing tubes, it is not a fully closed sterile process.  Companies like EmCyte minimize this risk through the design of the PRP tubes themselves.  The EmCyte Pure PRP tubes use self-sealing ports that can be aseptically swabbed in between every transfer thus keeping the procedure aseptic and greatly minimizing any risk of infection.  

7. Future Directions and Developments in PRP Kits

The future of PRP is about quality and standardization.  Those on the cutting edge of these procedures are focusing on using the best available FDA approved kits on the market, assaying the samples and tracking results.  The key thing to understand about PRP is that it is not all the same.  Aside from the fact that there is variability between baseline platelet counts of whole blood from patient to patient, there is even more variability when it comes to the ways to concentrate those platelets and the ever-increasing number of companies selling kits to do it.  Once you understand that not all PRP kits produce the same PRP you can then take steps to determine which one is the best for you.

Contact 5 Line Biologics anytime at 609-975-9884 or [email protected] to learn more.