Establishment and application of a novel method for thawing frozen red blood cells

This study aimed to develop a novel method for thawing frozen red blood cell (FRBC) samples for transfusion compatibility testing. Fifteen samples were selected from voluntary blood donors at the Henan Red Cross Blood Center. After being washed with saline, samples were stored in a –80 ℃ freezing environment for 15 months using a FRBC preservation solution. The dialysis method was used to optimize the deglycerolization process. Following thawing, RBCs were stored at 2–8 ℃ for 75 days, during which cell morphology, antigenicity, antigen intensity, and hemolysis indicators were evaluated. The optimized deglycerolization method achieved a cell recovery rate over 75%. Thawed RBCs maintained intact morphology and stable blood group antigen expression during 75-day storage at 2–8 ℃ with no significant reduction in antigenicity or antigen intensity. The results suggest that a new method for thawing FRBCs be successfully established. The thawed RBCs exhibit stable quality and are suitable for clinical compatibility testing, such as ABO/RhD blood typing, Rh typing, and cross-matching.