AABB

For the computer graphics term, see Bounding volume

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AABB is a US professional body and standards organization that was founded in 1947 as the American Association of Blood Banks.^[1] The organization is now international with members in 80 countries and has taken on a broader scope to include all of transfusion medicine as well as cellular therapies, specifically ones based on hematopoietic stem cells. The acronym no longer stands for anything.

The AABB works closely with the US FDA and provides technical input into the development of blood regulations. While membership is not a regulatory requirement, virtualy all major blood banks in the United States are accredited by the AABB. More than 80 percent of hospital transfusion services and similar facilities are members.^[2]

The organization publishes a newsletter as well as a research journal through Blackwell Publishing named Transfusion. ^[3] Every three years the AABB publishes a Technical Manual, as of 2007 it is in its fifteenth edition. The organization also publishes a variety of other blood banking related materials, including the standards that it uses to accredit members.

Since 1953, the organization has run a National Blood Exchange to facilitate transfers of blood between blood banks during shortages or when rare blood types are required.