High Demand for a Commodity Product

People older than 65 use 43 percent of all donated blood. The demand for blood and blood products is expected to increase as the population ages.³ In addition, 25 percent of all blood products are used to treatcancerpatients. Some major orthopedic surgical procedures, such as total joint arthroplasty and spinal fusion, are associated with significant blood loss as well as the need for allogeneic blood transfusions, despite preoperative autologous blood donation and re-transfusion.^4,5