Providing life-saving treatment for patients in need

Delivering patient care at hospitals throughout the state, Rhode Island Blood Center’s therapeutics experts are providing innovative blood therapies to help save and improve more lives.

At the patient’s bedside and in an outpatient setting, our registered nurses use state-of-the-art technology to support the clinical treatment of autoimmune diseases and blood disorders. These treatments help people fighting many diseases and illnesses such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia and life threatening infections.  

Therapeutic apheresis is a medical procedure that removes selected abnormal components or cells from a patient while returning the healthy cells. The apheresis equipment targets the specific disease-causing substance that needs to be reduced, helping patients with acute and chronic medical conditions. 

This team of specially trained nurses work under the direction of the Rhode Island Blood Center’s Chief Medical Officer in conjunction with the treating physicians and the medical facilities where patients in need are being cared for.  

Procedures Performed:

Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (Plasmapheresis or TPE)

TPE is the extraction of plasma to remove a toxic substance or pathogen from a patient to treat hematologic, neurologic, renal, and metabolic disorders.

White Cell Depletion/Reduction (Leukapheresis)

This procedure removes white blood cells and is performed primarily to treat leukocytosis associated with leukemia.

Red Cell Exchange/Reduction (Erythrocytapheresis)

Red blood cells are removed from patients with sickle cell anemia and babesiosis.

Platelet Reduction (Plateletpheresis)

Patients with excessively high platelet counts benefit from platelet reduction.

Cellular Therapy Collections for Autologous and Allogenic Transplant

  • Peripheral Blood Stem Cells
  • T-Cells
  • Granulocyte Collections

The collection of these specific cells is performed on both patients and donors.