plateletpheresis - platelets are separated from whole blood and the rest is returned to the donor. pheresis, apheresis - a procedure in which blood is drawn and separated into its components by dialysis; some are retained and the rest are returned to the donor by transfusion.
Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Iodine(noun) a nonmetallic element, of the halogen group, occurring always in combination, as in the iodides. When isolated it is in the form of dark gray metallic scales, resembling plumbago, soft but brittle, and emitting a chlorinelike odor.
Radioactive iodine (commonly called radioiodine) is a form of iodine chemically identical to nonradioactive iodine. Therefore, the thyroid gland, which takes up iodine to make thyroid hormone, cannot distinguish between the two. However, the nucleus of a radioactive iodine molecule has excess energy and gives off radiation that can have effects on the cells in which it is concentrated.