The use of bone marrow mononuclear cells as a source of stem cells has been widely described in numerous medical procedures ranging from stimulation of angiogenesis in patients with peripheral artery disease to treatment of terminal liver failure, to treatment of heart disease. Unfortunately the use of autologous bone marrow mononuclear stem cells is limited by the fact that few facilities have a clean room needed for processing such stem cells. In the current patent a medical device is disclosed that provides a closed system for the purification of bone marrow mononuclear cells using a hypotonic saline solution and physical pressure to substantially purify mononuclear cells from erythrocytes and other contaminants. The patent is primarily teaching the use of the mononuclear population for non-union bone fractures and other orthopedic indications, however the ability to purify stem cells at the point of care would theoretically enable numerous bone marrow stem cell therapies to be performed without the need for full-blown GMP/GTP clean rooms. The patent has 2 independent claims. The main claim covers: - Method of preparing a cell concentrate - Taking a physiological fluid that has not been centrifuged - Combining the fluid with a hypotonic solution - Filtering the combination of the hypotonic solution with the physiological solution - The filter retains platelets and nucleated cells - What passess through the filter is plasma and erythrocytes
View this patent on the USPTO website.
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