HRCantrell

Does anyone have experience with the Sahara III plasma thawers from Sarstedt? We got funds to replace our two Helmer DH-8 units, which actually operate ok, but are hard to drain and clean in their current location in our lab. I'm interested in a dry thawer, but other than seeing these at AABB, I have nothing to go on. Everyone I know still use the old water bath method. I'm hesitant to think about a microwave, because we rarely thaw 1 or 2 at a time (unless it's pre-pooled cryo). Any suggestions? Thanks!

Is anyone using the Ortho Rh Phenotype Gel cards for patient or donor testing? We have 2 ProVues, and are looking at ways to better utilize #2. We've validated donor retypes and are looking at adding the phenotype card to at least the group O donors. We've done some parallel testing and they work fine, but I'm curious about QC. I hate to run a mess of controls for a batch of 10 or 20 donors, but I realize that there's not a magic heterozygous control cell running around. Any suggestions? :fingerscr