Cord blood processing
Processing cord blood
We understand the importance of having freedom of choice during your pregnancy, which is why we offer two cord blood processing methods:
– Cells, our standard service which uses AXP processing, the same system trusted by the NHS.
– CellsPlus, our most popular service powered by TotiCyte.
Both options preserve your baby’s precious stem cells, but we would always recommend upgrading to CellsPlus as it saves up to 2.2 times more stem cells post thaw relative to Cells.*
When it comes to using stem cells there is usually a minimum number of cells required for a sample to be accepted for treatment, so it is important to retain as many as possible.
Multiple Samples
The stem cell treatment possibilities using umbilical cord blood are increasing all the time. Currently, there are over 2,500 clinical trials13 investigating the use of stem cells to treat a wide range of conditions, and stem cell transplants, mostly using donor cells, such as those from a sibling, are already the recognised treatment for over 80 diseases.
It is for this reason that we aim to give your baby as many opportunities as possible to use their stem cells if they are required. We offer a storage option that enables you to preserve your baby’s cord blood and tissue in multiple samples. This means that, if cell count allows, we can thaw just the amount of stem cells needed for a treatment and keep the remainder in storage for future therapies.
Processed cord blood is stored at dual storage locations
Because we know that, no matter how unlikely, disasters can happen, we give you the option to store your baby’s samples across two geographically separate storage locations. If there is ever a problem at one of our facilities, you can rest easy that the remainder of your baby’s cord blood, cord tissue and placenta remains safely in storage at another location.
More opportunities with CellsPlus
CellsPlus delivers more cells when you upgrade.*
Two key factors determine whether a stem cell sample will be used in a therapy. These are:
– whether it is a match;
– the number of cells it contains.
With your baby’s own cord blood, the match is guaranteed, however the number of cells will vary as a result of the cord blood processing method used.
Most cord blood processing systems lose a portion of the stem cells within a sample by the time it is used in treatment. Exclusive to Cells4Life in the UK, CellsPlus is powered by TotiCyte, which is designed to deliver a higher yield of viable stem cell cells – both pre-freeze, post-thaw, and when they are grown – when compared to our industry standard service, Cells, which uses AXP processing. Ultimately, our results show a sample processed using TotiCyte will contain up to 2.2 times more cells than one processed using Cells.*
Depending on the treatment, usually 25 million cells per kilogram of body weight are required for use in treatment – so the number of cells in a cord blood sample is crucial. Choosing CellsPlus may mean the difference between a sample only containing enough cells to be accepted to treat a child and suitable for use in an adult therapy, or even multiple treatments.
“Upgrade to CellsPlus to preserve more cells for the future”
The first cord blood bank to provide cord blood in multiple samples for multiple treatments.
Cord blood viability
We only use a dedicated courier service who works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to collect your baby’s cord blood. This ensures that your sample is collected and processed within 12-24 hours, if not earlier. This is very important as the viability of cord blood will start to decrease as soon as it is out of the body – the sooner your baby’s sample undergoes cord blood processing, the more stem cells your baby will have in storage. We always ensure that our courier and processing times are some of the best in the industry.
Find out more, request your welcome pack today
Find out more, request your welcome pack today
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* Based on our peer reviewed publication showing that TotiCyte delivers up to 2.2 times more haematopoietic stem cells at the point of use than our next best system, AXP.
