plateletpheresis - platelets are separated from whole blood and the rest is returned to the donor. pheresis, apheresis - a procedure in which blood is drawn and separated into its components by dialysis; some are retained and the rest are returned to the donor by transfusion.
Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Iodine(noun) a nonmetallic element, of the halogen group, occurring always in combination, as in the iodides. When isolated it is in the form of dark gray metallic scales, resembling plumbago, soft but brittle, and emitting a chlorinelike odor.
Iodine in biology. Iodine is an essential trace element for life, the heaviest element commonly needed by living organisms, and the second-heaviest known to be used by any form of life (only tungsten, a component of a few bacterial enzymes, has a higher atomic number and atomic weight).