Cord Blood Lab

Cord Partner's Contracted Blood Bank

Cord Partners stores every client's cord blood sample in an internationally known, fully accredited cord blood banking facility. Located in Paramus, New Jersey, our contracted blood bank has been in operation since 1954. They have been preserving cord blood since 1996 (Read more about the bank's history). Cord Partners is dedicated to providing the highest quality products for stem cell preservation. We engage in sound and ethical business practices by only partnering with a lab that maintains all required regulatory licenses and certificates of accreditation:

New Jersey State Department of Health Clinical Laboratory and Blood Bank licenses
New York State Department of Health licenses for collection, testing, processing and distribution of donated blood and blood products
Health Care Finance Administration Certificate (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act '88)
Accreditation by the American Association of Blood Banks
Accreditation by the American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics
Full membership in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) cord blood banking program.

Sample Testing

Bacteriology tests are performed on each cord blood unit. These tests are performed to provide the transplant team with the information they will need to determine if antibiotics would be needed during a transplant. Cell count and cell viability tests are also conducted both before and after the processing of the unit.

The FDA requires eight tests to be performed on the mother's blood and the cord blood. Cord Partners' lab performs all of the following tests on maternal blood samples:

ABO/Rh

ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase)

CHOL

RPR

Antibody Screen

HIV-1/2(Human Immunodeficiency Virus Types 1 and 2)

HTLV-I/II (Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Types I & II)

HbsAg (Hepatitis B Surface Antigen)

NAT (Nucleic Acid Test)

HBC (Hepatitis B core Antibody)

HCV (Hepatitis C Virus)

CMV (Cytomegalovirus) Total Antibody

NAT-HCV & NAT HIV

Confirmatory Tests performed:
HIV-1 NAT Neutralization Test
HbsAg Confirmatory Test (Neutralization)

Blood Processing

The cord blood is processed utilizing a "slow sedimentation" technique to remove the red blood cells from the sample which are not needed for transplant. Slow sedimentation helps insure that, unlike high speed centrifuge techniques, the cell separation is more efficient and has less red cell contamination. Next, a volume reduction of white cell concentrate occurs, leaving white cell pellet including mononuclear cells (MNC.) The MNC are not separated out from the rest of the sample because a patient may need the support of more developed cells at the time of transplant to help rebuild the immune system. Separating and storing only the MNC would be an unnecessary and costly loss of cells, but some companies do this to reduce the amount of space that a sample takes in their freezer.

Sample Storage

Cord Partners utilizes Med-Sep Bags (a division of Pall) for cord blood storage. They are the most advanced bags on the market and provide the best of both worlds when considering vials and bags. Bags provide a stronger seal than glass vials and therefore provide greater security for your sample. The bag, however, is divided into two compartments: a 5ml compartment and a 20ml compartment. This provides the ability for future expansion of the cells of the 5ml sample without disturbing the 20ml sample for transplant just like storing in separate vials would do. Also, an additional 1 ml of sample is stored in a separate vial which can be used exclusively for HLA testing without disturbing the 25ml bag.

Cell Freezing

Initially, the cells freeze slowly using what is called the "Dump Technique", or controlled rate freezing method, to prevent the formation of ice crystals. The sample is then immersed in a 10% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solvent. This is the "gold standard" method of protecting living tissue during cryo-preservation. The purpose of the solvent is to protect cells against the formation of ice crystals, which rupture cell membranes and make the sample unusable. Following that process, the cord blood units are stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer at a temperature of -196 C. These cryogenic vaults are called Dewars.

Lab Safety

To guarantee the safety of every cord blood unit stored:

The storage facility is equipped with an electrical power generator.
Each freezer has its own battery back-up. Each battery has a life-span of 21-30 days.
A spare Dewar is always immediately available.
Temperatures are:
1. Recorded around the clock
2. Monitored & alarmed by an independent company
3. Checked daily and recorded by an employee of the laboratory
Liquid nitrogen feeding of the freezers is controlled automatically and continuously monitored.
The lab is staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.
Each sample is given a unique bar code and freezer location ID. This information is stored both in our computer system as well as hardcopy.

Transplant Success

Cord Partners’ lab has retrieved 40 cord blood units so their cells could be used for medical treatment. In every case, the stem cells proved viable for transplant demonstrating that the processing and storage techniques utilized by our lab facility are effective.

Results of Stem Cell Transplant Success

"The stem cells found in the umbilical cord are starter cells [immature cells that duplicate once transplanted], which give them enormous potential for applications in gene therapy and regenerative medicine," says Peter Weiss, M.D., an OBGYN in Beverly Hills, Calif., and an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine. "They can help build the immune system, improve the heart and regenerate blood tissue"
Fit Pregnancy, August-Sept, 2003 by Katherine Silberger