BLOOD SEPARATION METHOD AND BLOOD SEPARATION FILTER
FIG2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the blood separation filter of FIG1
As illustrated in FIG2, the blood separation filter 10A includes: the housing 18; a filter member 24 that partitions interior of the housing 18 in an up-down direction (thickness direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the housing 18) into a blood inflow chamber 20 and a blood outflow chamber 22 and that includes a filter medium 38; an inflow port 26 that allows blood to flow into the blood inflow chamber 20; and an outflow port 28 that allows blood from which a blood component has been separated (post-separation blood) by the filter member 24 to flow out from the blood outflow chamber 22. As illustrated in FIG2, peripheral edge portions of the first case 30 and the second case 32 are joined together by welding (ultrasonic welding or the like) over the entire circumference. In order to facilitate the flow of blood into the blood inflow chamber 20, a plurality of protrusions 34 is provided on the inner surface of the first case 30 facing the filter member 24. In order to facilitate the flow of post-separation blood into the blood outflow chamber 22, a plurality of protrusions 36 is provided on the inner surface of the second case 32 facing the filter member 24. At least one of the protrusion 34 and the protrusion 36 may be omitted. The filter medium 38 is formed of a sheet-like porous material having a large number of minute continuous pores communicating from one side to the other side. Examples of such a porous material include a sponge sheet formed of polyurethane, and a nonwoven fabric. The number of stacked sheets of the filter medium 38 is, for example, about two to ten. Note that the filter member 24 of FIG2 has six filter media 38 being stacked. The number of filter media 38 constituting the filter member 24 may be one.
longitudinal sectional view
24
filter member
28
outflow port
14
inflow tube
30
first case
38
filter medium
22
blood outflow chamber
18
housing
20
blood inflow chamber
34
40
first protrusion
16
outflow tube
42
second protrusion
26
inflow port
36
32
second case
13
retainer groove
['1. A blood separation method using a blood separation filter (10A to 10F) that separates a predetermined blood component from blood, the blood separation filter (10A to 10F) including: a housing (18, 62); a filter medium (38) disposed in the housing (18, 62) and partitioning the housing (18, 62) into a blood inflow chamber (20) and a blood outflow chamber (22) in a thickness direction of the housing (18, 62); an inflow port (26) provided in the housing (18, 62) to allow blood to flow into the blood inflow chamber (20); and an outflow port (28) provided in the housing (18, 62) to allow post-separation blood from which a blood component has been separated by the filter medium (38) to flow out from the blood outflow chamber (22), the blood separation method comprising: an arrangement step of arranging the housing (18, 62) such that the blood inflow chamber (20) is positioned vertically below the filter medium (38) and the blood outflow chamber (22) is positioned vertically above the filter medium (38); a blood treatment step of first allowing the blood to flow from the inflow port (26) into the blood inflow chamber (20) in a state of the arrangement step, allowing  the blood to flow through the inside of the filter medium (38) upward from vertically below, and then allowing the post-separation blood inside the blood outflow chamber (22) to flow out to the outflow port (28); and a post residual treatment blood collection step of arranging the housing (18, 62) such that the outflow port (28) is positioned vertically below the blood outflow chamber (22) after the blood treatment step, thereby guiding post-separation residual blood in the housing (18, 62) to the outflow port (28).', '4. The blood separation method according to claim 3, wherein the housing (18, 62) includes, at a center portion of an outer surface (30a) on a side where the blood inflow chamber (20) is located, an outlet-side retainer (11b, 15b, 19b, 21b, 23b, 25b) to which an outflow tube (16) connected to the outflow port (28) is detachably mounted, and the arrangement step allows at least a portion of the outflow tube (16) to extend on the center-of-gravity line (Lg) in a state where the outflow tube (16) is mounted to the outlet-side retainer (11b, 15b, 19b, 21b, 23b, 25b).', '9. The blood separation filter (10A, 10B) according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the inlet-side retainer (11a, 15a) and the outlet-side retainer (11b, 15b) is a clip portion having a retainer groove to and from which the inflow tube (14) or the outflow tube (16) is attachable and detachable.']