Self-contained adipose derived stem cell processing unit

Patent Number: 7,390,484

Adipose tissue is known to contain a variety of different cellular populations. For example, Medistem Inc (mdsm.ob) reported presence of immune suppressive T regulatory cells in adipose tissue that could potentially be useful for inhibiting autoimmunity.

Another type of cell found in adipose tissue is endothelial precursor cells, which are capable of stimulating angiogenesis, as well as mesenchymal stem cells. Adipose derived stem cells have been demonstrated to be useful for numerous indications including heart failure, cartilage regeneration, and acceleration of hematopoiesis.

The current patent covers a self contained processing system which can be used for purifying adipose tissue mononuclear cells without needing a GMP clean-room. Essentially the device covered in this patent is very similar to Cytori's Celution system, which was co-developed with the company Olympus and has obtained a CE mark in Europe.

Availability of closed-system stem cell processing devices such as this will allow for rapid acceleration of the field of adult stem cell therapeutics since many hospitals and treatment facilities do not have access to GMP rooms.

An understanding of the device in the current patent can be gleaned from reading the first independent claim which basically covers:

A self-contained adipose-derived stem cell processing unit, comprising:

a tissue collection container that is configured to receive unprocessed adipose tissue that is freshly harvested from a patient,

a first filter configured to retain a first component of said unprocessed adipose tissue and pass a second component of said unprocessed adipose tissue, such that said first filter separates said first component from said second component,

and wherein said first component comprises a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells and said second component comprises lipid, blood, mature adipocytes, and saline;

a cell collection chamber, which is configured to receive said first component comprising a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells from said tissue collection container,

wherein said cell collection container is within said closed system; a conduit configured to allow passage of said first component comprising a cell population comprising adipose-derived stem cells from said tissue collection chamber to said cell collection container

a cell concentrator disposed within said cell collection chamber, which is configured to facilitate the concentration of said first component comprising a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells so as to obtain a concentrated population of cells that comprise adipose-derived stem cells,

wherein said cell concentrator comprises a centrifuge or a spinning membrane filter; and an outlet configured to allow the aseptic removal of said concentrated population of cells that comprise adipose-derived stem cells

View this patent on the USPTO website.

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