About the Department/Division

Blood Transfusion Services are vital components of a health care facility. The Department of Transfusion Medicine aims to provide a safe and adequate supply of quality blood components in a timely manner. The blood centre in the Department collects whole blood and Apheresis platelets. It processes them into 100% blood components which include packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, platelet concentrate, and cryoprecipitates with the facility to store at a suitable temperature for round-the-clock distribution. Safety of blood components is ensured by the stringent screening of blood donors and advanced testing for transfusion-transmitted infectious agents by Electrochemiluminescence technology. The Department is equipped with a well-established immunohematology laboratory for basic and advanced facilities and serves as a referral centre to provide transfusion support to multi-transfused patients. The Department is committed to prompt delivery of immunohematology-related diagnostic and various therapeutic apheresis services.

 

Message from Head of the Department/Division

Transfusion Medicine is a multidisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with all aspects of transfusion of blood and blood components, along with the characteristics of donor and patient hemovigilance. Transfusion Medicine is a specialty that aims to provide diagnostics like immunohematology and therapeutic modalities like plasma exchange, red cell exchange, intrauterine transfusions, etc. The Department of Transfusion Medicine's blood centre strives to ensure safe blood at the right time to the right patients. Patient blood management is essential to provide recipient autonomy and physician responsibility to take a competent decision regarding the prudent and rational use of blood components. The Department has dedicated team members with good co-ordination to fulfill the blood requirement of our Institute round the clock

Over the last few decades, the branch has witnessed tremendous growth. This discipline has expanded its horizons in many areas; Blood group genetics, platelet and granulocyte immunology, transplant immunology, molecular HLA typing, application of next-generation sequencing, and application of bioinformatics are the few significant areas in the field of Transfusion Medicine where rapid developments have taken place. Last but not least, stem cell biology and cellular therapy are another recently developed and most promising aspect in the field of Transfusion Medicine, which has shown significant promises and hopes in many disease conditions where no therapeutic modalities are available to date.

Achievements

Major Achievements

9. Academic Programmes: M.D in Transfusion Medicine
10. Special Clinics/ Laboratories/Interest/Course:
    1. Referral immunohematology laboratory
    2. Referral centre for Therapeutic apheresis
    3. Platelet aggregation studies
    4. Going to start Transplant Immunology services soon.
    5. Irradiation of Blood Products: going to start soon.
    6. Harvesting and cryopreservation of peripheral blood stem cells.

 

11. Research Areas:

• Storage lesion, Immunohematology, and Hemoglobinopathy
• Transplant Immunology
• Cellular Therapy and Regenerative Medicine

 

12. PG Student:
    1. Current: Dr. M Sree Bhagavathi, Dr. Stephy Varghese, Dr. Ayan Bose, Dr. Nayana V K, Dr. Siddhi Thakur
    2. Alumni: Dr Niladri Das

13. Major Activities:

I.  Whole blood collection and Therapeutic Phlebotomy   

II.    Blood Components prepared for clinical use

• Packed red blood cells
• Leucoreduced red blood cells and platelets
• Fresh frozen plasma
• Single donor apheresis platelet
• Cryoprecipitate
• Platelet concentrates

III.   Screening for donated blood for Transfusion Transmitted Infections:  

                      Through Electrochemiluminescence Technology

IV. Emergency Service:

• Round-the-clock service for the supply of blood and blood components to the patients
• Emergency Therapeutic apheresis

V. Special Service

A.    Immunohematology

• Provision of Rh and Kell matched compatible units to multi-transfused patients.
• Red cell antibody screening and antibody identification
• Adsorption-elution studies
• Saliva secretory tests
• B.   Apheresis Section:

• Single donor plateletpheresis
• Therapeutic plasma exchange
• Therapeutic cytapheresis
• Red cell exchange
• Platelet aggregation studies

VI. Future Goals:

1. Molecular nucleic acid testing for transfusion-transmitted infection.

2. Histocompatibility testing and Transplant immunology work-up.

3. Provision of irradiated blood products to needy patients.

4. Molecular blood group genotyping.

5. Stem cell transplant and cellular therapy.

6. Start academic curriculum (Postdoctoral certificate course / Postdoctoral fellowship course) in Therapeutic Apheresis, Transplant Immunology, and Cellular therapy in the near future.

7. Start a certificate course for laboratory technicians in the Blood component and Apheresis.