tkakin Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 I am looking to purchase a new plasma thawer. I have the Helmer DH4 water bath. I read your reviews on the microwave and it will not be a good fit for us, because we do not thaw enough plasma to warrant having a water bath and microwave. I read Aunte D's post that you use the Sahara III and I am intrigued. I looked it up online, but it doesn't give much info such as maintenance, limitations to products like the microwave has. I would be most grateful if you could elaborate on your thoughts on this plasma thawer and some of the problems you have run into with its use. I didn't see that it was FDA approved?? Does anyone use the Cytotherm if yes same questions as above. I appreciate your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKB1988 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Anyone using a rapid plasma thawer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkakin Posted April 26, 2019 Author Share Posted April 26, 2019 Plasmatherm II- is that what you are referring to? I am curious about it as well On 1/31/2019 at 6:40 AM, RKB1988 said: Anyone using a rapid plasma thawer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB123 Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 I have used the Sarstedt SAHARA III for many years and they are very good, with regards to limitations I am not aware of any as such, they use dry heat to thaw the plasma and I don't ever remember one breaking down in the 3 different labs I have used them in. Maintenance is limited to wiping down the unit every week and cleaning out when you get a burst bag but they have a tray in the bottom to catch any leakage, I would take one any day over any water bath options. My current lab has an Helmer, I find it very slow compared to the SAHARA. tkakin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANORRIS Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 The Helmer rusts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolyn swickard Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 We use the Helmer D4 and have had it for years - it doesn't have speck of rust anywhere. We only fill it with distilled water and use the Helmer CleanBath Would the dry heat thawers work well for Plasma exchange transfusions? The 4 well waterbath we have is not going to get through 16 units very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB123 Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 11 hours ago, cswickard said: We use the Helmer D4 and have had it for years - it doesn't have speck of rust anywhere. We only fill it with distilled water and use the Helmer CleanBath Would the dry heat thawers work well for Plasma exchange transfusions? The 4 well waterbath we have is not going to get through 16 units very fast. When we did plasma exchange and had a single SAHARA we used to have to start thawing overnight to get it ready in advance, they claim 6 bag capacity but in reality I found it was hard to fit 6 in. One site I worked at that was a major trauma center and did heart and lung transplants and ECMO had 2 for this reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applejw Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 We have Helmer D8s and recently installed 2 Sahara III - Sahara has little to no maintenance, easy to use - but VERY SLOW (24-35 minutes for 2 units) compared to thawing 8 units in Helmer (16 -20 minutes for E2555 products). Great if you are thawing a couple of units for routine transfusion - not useful in hemorrhage/trauma situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Saikin Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 I've used the cytotherms and the D4. I think the cytotherms are a lot of work to keep up, especially if you keep them full. I've had the D4 for at least 8 yrs - no rust but I keep it empty. reasonably fast (16-20 minutes for 4u). I can go for months without thawing a plasma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANORRIS Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 My Helmer D8 has a lot calcium deposits, which I thought was rust. I use distilled water and Cleanbath. Any ideas how I can stop this from happening? I am on my 3rd order of new baskets. NWBloodBanker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWBloodBanker Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 We have the same issue with the calcium deposits. We have less than what you show in your picture and we use regular tap water. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the dissolved minerals in tap water help prevent the calcium buildup. If I find some information I will post here, I wish Helmer used the same material for the baskets as they do for the chamber as it is still quite pristine after many years of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now