A New Economical Cord Blood Storage Method

Currently, umbilical cord blood (UCB) is cryopreserved for medical applications by private and public banks with initial processing costs averaging $1950 with $125 of annual storage fees. This can be a significant burden on expecting guardians.  Therefore, a method to overcome this cost is currently under development which utilizes lyophilization of UCB cells.  These nucleated cells, found in the buffy coat of gradient centrifuged UCB, contain the highly desired therapeutic hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells.  Previous research has shown that lyophilization of mammalian cells yields low cell viability upon rehydration.  This approach seeks to overcome this problem through the implementation of a highly specified environment for lyophilization in a millifluidic device.  The device will serve as both a sample chamber and long term storage vessel; therefore, it needs to be able to withstand the extreme conditions that occur during lyophilization and autoclaving.  It appears to be especially promising because this device will introduce control to lyophilization as well as rehydration. Prior research has discovered that the cell recovery process is directly related to the cell viability.  Through this process, it is anticipated that the rehydrated cells will yield higher cell viability than thawed cells, since thawing has been shown to be harsh on cells. This technology is being developed to increase the economic availability of UCB banking to middle and lower class caregivers by eliminating the annual fee for liquid nitrogen, maintenance, and storage space.  The small millifluidic device would allow for storage at the guardian’s residence in a refrigerator or at room temperature. This project offers an innovative, marketable solution for utilizing umbilical cord blood stem cells in a growing number of therapeutic uses.