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Carolinas Cord Blood Bank
The Carolinas Cord
Blood Bank collects blood from the placenta and umbilical cord after a mom gives
birth so that blood can be used for bone marrow transplants.
After delivery the placenta and cord [afterbirth] are placed in a special
collection stand. Cord blood is collected and drained by gravity.
The cord blood is then collected in a closed system into a collection bag.
Next the cord blood is processed within 48 hours of collection. You can learn
more about this process by touring the Stem Cell Laboratory (STCL).
The unit is taken out of the freezer on the day of transplant.
The frozen sample is placed inside a sterile Ziplock bag before thawing.
The unit is thawed in a 37 degree Celsius water bath.
A dextran albumin solution is used to slowly thaw the sample.
The dextran albumin solution helps to remove the DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) from
the cord blood before infusion into the patient.
A quality control specimen is removed to perform all laboratory testing.
The specimen is weighed before centrifugation.
The centrifuge is used to spin down the product.
After centrifugation the cells are pelleted in the bottom of the bag.
A cooler is used to transport the transplant product to the patient.
2 nurses double check the label on the product to confirm patient identity.
The cord blood unit is infused into the patient like a standard blood
transfusion.
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