UH Becomes First Hospital in U.S. to Use New Blood Retrieval Device

ProCell® could lead to fewer blood transfusions and better care for patients

This month, University Hospitals (UH) Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute became the first hospital in the U.S. to use a new blood retrieval device. ProCell® enables the patient’s surgical team to maximize blood conservation during surgery, leading to an efficient process and potentially better patient outcomes.

 ProCell® device.

During surgery, medical teams use sponges and gauze pads to wipe away excess blood from the surgical field. Those sponges and pads contain precious red blood cells which are important to the patient. Usually, a nurse rings the blood-soaked sponges into a basin by hand. This consumes a nurse’s valuable time and effort and can cause damage to those blood cells.

ProCell® is a unique medical device that brings innovation and automation to the surgical sponge-blood recovery process. A member of the medical team simply drops the sponges into the device and closes the lid. Once connected to standard operating room vacuum suction, ProCell® automatically deploys in a downward direction to extract the patient’s blood. ProCell® is sterile, compact and disposable.

“University Hospitals aims to be at the forefront of innovation and this is just another example of that,” said Marc Pelletier, MD, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UH Cleveland Medical Center. “ProCell® is a simple device that causes less damage to blood cells and makes it easier for nurses to focus on other aspects of surgery. We’re hopeful the implementation of ProCell® might lead to fewer blood transfusions, and more importantly, better patient care.”

“ProCell Surgical actively sought out UH to be the first U.S. hospital to use ProCell®. UH has established itself as a premier medical center with a strong commitment to surgical blood conservation. UH performs a wide range of major surgical procedures that utilize intraoperative autotransfusion (IAT),” said Dr. Robert Krensky, President and CEO of ProCell Surgical. “Dr. Pelletier was approached because of his reputation for providing the highest quality medical care, his keen interest in viable and cost-effective innovation, and staff that are highly professional and dedicated to their patients.”

University Hospitals has initially seen positive outcomes associated with ProCell® and plans to continue using it in the future to benefit patients as well as create a more effective surgical process.

Media Relations Contact: Carly Belsterling | 412-889-8866 | Carly.Bersterling@UHhospitals.org