Best Practice Processing and Storage

Best Practice Processing and Storage 

Cord blood banks use a variety of processing and storage techniques, but the international gold standard is volume reduction, as used at Smart Cells International.

During  volume reduction we separate the group of cells containing stem cells from the plasma and red blood cells.  This cell population, which contains both blood forming and potential tissue forming stem cells is then slowly frozen in automated control rate freezers.  This process is recommended by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) and is used in both public and private banks internationally.

Our processing laboratory is one of the most experienced in the UK.  It is used by the National Health Service for storage, and is fully accredited by both the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Benefits of volume reduction:

When cord blood is received at the laboratory, the red cell and plasma components are removed in preparation for freezing.

 Neither the red blood cells, nor the plasma contribute any therapeutic benefit in a transplant.

Red cells lyse, or rupture, upon freezing.

The lysed cells and their contents remain within the cord blood unit for transplantation and are considered undesirable for the patient to receive at the time of transplant.