Blood Irradiation

Zero risk blood transfusions with FGDOS® technology

Human blood for transfusion is indispensable for more than 20 million citizens in Europe every year. Patients susceptible to suffer transfusion graft-versus-host disease, TA-GVHD, need to receive blood previously irradiated by gamma or x-ray for sterilization purposes. The mortality rate of TA-GVHD is dramatically high, above 90%, with special relevance in newborns and children.

Irradiated blood must be properly identified, and it is necessary to asses that the applied radiation dose is correct. Traditional solutions for such a purpose consist of simple radiochromic labels that change their color after irradiation, offering a non-precise visual indicator. They are subject to the judgment of a human operator to assess the dose, making the process prone to human error and difficult to automate.

To overcome these limitations, FGDOS® ICs are combined with RFID labels for transfusion blood bags. Blood traceability digital platforms can provide data about the availability of irradiated products and the exact dose they have been irradiated with.