Glossary
Thrombocyte
A thrombocyte is a platelet. Platelets are the cellular component that PRP concentrates, and they carry the growth factors that make platelet concentrates clinically interesting. They are also the least dense cellular component of blood, which is why excessive centrifugal force damages them rather than concentrating them further.
Figure
The least dense cells
Figure. Platelets are the lightest cellular fraction, which is why excessive force damages rather than concentrates them. At high g they are driven into the pellet along with everything denser.
In practice
Platelets are the least dense cellular component of blood, which is why excessive force damages them: at high g they are driven into the pellet along with denser cells.
See also
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)PRP is plasma with a platelet concentration above whole-blood baseline, produced by centrifuging a patient's own blood.
- Growth factorsGrowth factors are signalling proteins released by platelets, and they are the reason platelet concentrates are of clinical interest.
- Platelet concentration factorConcentration factor is how many times the platelet count in the final product exceeds the patient's whole-blood baseline, written for example as 5x.