Cord Blood Processing: Different Bags and Automation

Cord blood (CB) banking is a worldwide resource that primarily supports hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) transplantation. Increasingly, CB is used as a source of HPCs, other neonatal cell types, and proteins for biomedical research and new therapies, such as ophthalmological tissue regeneration and platelet lysates for tissue culture. This chapter will review the methods used to prepare a volume-reduced HPC-enriched fraction from the blood collected at birth, from the placenta and umbilical cord of neonates, as well as the methods for its cryopreservation and storage under cryogenic conditions. Initially, a manual procedure allowed the centrifugal separation of a buffy-coat fraction that was cryopreserved with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and frozen under controlled rate, with aliquots of the product being separated into unattached freezing vials, for use as future test samples. Subsequently, automated methods for withdrawing the buffy coat have been introduced that allow for aliquots of the cord blood unit (CBU) to be segregated into sealed “segments” of its integral plastic tubing, enabling monitoring the identity, viability, and potency of the CBU, including testing at the time of use. The stability of the CBUs and their segments after many years of storage has been established, as well as their safety and effectiveness. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that the CBUs produced according to established norms are safe and effective and has issued licenses to CBUs produced by a growing number of cord blood banks (CBBs). CBUs that do not meet the required thresholds for use in HPC transplantation are currently either used clinically if met with other criteria or for research in the generation of tissues and cells for regenerative medicine and immunotherapy. However, challenges, including costs and declining CBU utilization, may interfere with the expanding potential for CB clinical and research applications.