Table 5.

Main current apheresis techniques used for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) harvest

	COBE Spectra	Spectra Optia	Amicus	COM.TEC
Firm	TerumoBCT (Lakewood, Co)	TerumoBCT (Lakewood, Co)	Fenwall (Lake Zurich, IL)	Fresenius Healthcare (Bad Homburg, Germany)
Flow method	Continuous	Continuous	Continuous	Continuous
Blood separation	Continuous separation of blood components	Continuous blood separation monitored by automated interface management (AIM)	Continuous blood separation monitored by two sensors	Blood separation is performed during cycles whose features are individually determined
HSPC harvest	Continuous harvest of the mononuclear cells layer	Harvest in a collection chamber and line during cycles	Harvest in a collection chamber and line	Intermittent harvest at the end of each separation cycle
Operator adjustment	Continuous manual adjustment of the interface and the harvest	Interface and harvest automatically controlled with few adjustments	Interface and harvest automatically controlled	Adjusting the volumes of the separation cycle, buffy coat, and spillover

Note: A modified automatic COBE Spectra technique was also developed and named Auto-PBSC.