Are Human Tissue Banks Necessary?

The Human Tissues Act regulates the use of human tissue and its transfer. Such projects require approval by the Department of Histopathology who are accountable for maintaining the site’s human tissue bank. Outside transfer of human tissues to third parties are required to have a tissue transfer agreement.

What is Human Tissue?
Any human biological specimen or derivative obtained from a living or dead individual that is adequate in type and quantity to allow an analysis of its physical or biochemical properties. This includes molecules resultant from tissues (DNA, RNA, proteins, etc), cell cultures, cells, solid tissues, and body fluids, linked data and information. 

What is a Tissue Bank?
Tissue banks gather, stock, and allocate human biological specimens for research purposes. Tissue banks activities include three elements:
•    The collection of samples and data
•    The storage and data management center
•    The re-disclosure of tissue

Who uses Human Tissue Banks?
Researchers laboring to comprehend and develop new therapies for a broad range of diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes depend on donated tissue for their studies from tissue banks. Advancement in the treatment of widespread and rare diseases depends on having access to both normal and diseased human tissues. However, these donated tissues are frequently in short supply. 

The human tissue bank is in an exceptional position to advance such research, which may eventually benefit the lives of millions of people. Many human tissues unsuitable for transplant can be donated for research, giving people the opportunity to advance medical science and add to the progress for new treatments and cures.   

Non-qualifying donors can frequently donate tissues for research as well. The research donation usually takes place after recovery of tissues for transplantation, so there is no interference with standard recovery procedures. 

Human Tissue Bank Management
Many tissue banks work wholly with a particular organization to manage their tissues for research programs. These organizations are usually non-profit and are the intermediary that transfers donated tissue to appropriate research centers and institutions involved in critical medical and scientific research.

Though there is considerable need for centralized, data-linked human tissue banks, such partnerships bring to mind intriguing ethical, monetary, and legal questions. Key among these are issues of privacy, the commodification of body parts, and if there is any financial or ethical duty to compensate the tissue donors for contributing the raw material for research and development. 

Human tissue banking and joint academic and industrial ventures are not something new; however, consciousness of some of the lawful, fiscal, and moral implications involved is.      

Undoubtedly, human tissue banks such as ILSbio and others are needed to facilitate therapeutic development, diagnosis, and additional research. The capacity to relate the molecular findings of various projects to clinically relevant material and data rely on ventures involving numerous academic centers. The bioethical queries and repercussions of these partnerships; however, continue to be in question.

A Leading Provider of Tumor Tissue for Scientific Discovery

If your responsibly lies in the procurement of tumor tissue at any of the larger pharmaceutical companies or in similar position in medical research centers at the university and teaching hospital level, our product, tumor tissue will have value to your organization.

The same can be said to those who are involved in similar positions with Biotech companies and Contract Research Organizations (CRO) who depend on an having an available supply of high quality tumor tissue at their disposal for further study and experimentation. It is essential that the tissue meet certain standards set by the group to insure an accurate assessment of the sample in a controlled environment. Our company has the capability to provide all required quantities of tumor tissue including matched sets of normal and diseased tissue.

We pride ourselves in our ability to supply your needs in a timely manner that will satisfy your budget demands. Our assortment includes tumor tissues sample of genomic, proteomic, molecular, and histologic, suitable for various methods of analysis.

Our samples are harvested and instantly snap frozen to guaranty the integrity of the samples. The entire process, from donor to placement in contaminant free containers occurs in less than 20 minutes, after which the specimens are stored and monitored in liquid nitrogen and kept at -180 degrees.

ILSbio, LLC was established over 15 years ago. The company has devoted its efforts to providing documented bio specimens and support to encourage scientific discovery from the lab to clinical a practice responsibly, innovatively and as quickly as the process allows.  The last decade has shown great results in the goal of finding more for cancer cures.

The next decade due to the increasing cancer awareness of the public will bring even more emphasis on research to find those cures. More funds will be directed towards the cause and the demand for products such as Tumor tissue will increase dramatically. Your organization can be on the front lines of the movement. The tumor tissue ILSbio can supply can put your organization one step closer to being an even important part of the movement.

In addition to providing tumor samples, ILSbio, LLC, offers a wide range of custom services designed to meet all of your research needs. Many of these services can help reduce your in house costs of operation. If your facility is faced with manpower cuts and financial shortcomings, the services we provide can offer relief.  Your department heads and financial officers may have an interest in that phase of our service.
In addition to our tumor tissue service, we can provide your organization with highly rated samples of:

•    Custom Collections
•    Tissue Extractions
•    Tissue Micro arrays
•    Side Sectioning
•    Specimen testing

For more information on the world's most comprehensive tissue collection network, contact:
ILS bio, LLC
100 Radcliffe Dr   100
Chestertown, MD 21620 - USA
Toll Free: 866-ILS(457)-1199
Local: 410-810-7506
Fax: 410-810-7508
If you prefer, fill out the information request form at: http://www.ilsbio.com/

Use of Human Tissue Can Influence Growth of Medical Science

When it comes to the study of the human body, how new medications affect it and how potentially new procedures might help it is research that is not done directly on live humans. Animal testing is becoming less and less the norm, and even so, it is not possible to allow a product to be released simply on animal testing. Due to all of this, the only real option for testing and progressing medical science is human tissue banks. These tissue banks are used by individuals, companies, and universities from all across the globe. This is because specific kinds of tissue are maintained for study and future usage, allowing individuals to maintain their own genetic material all the way to professors looking to utilize government grants for study and research. Regardless of the reasoning and what is behind the process, human tissue banks are essential in the growth and development of medication, new technology and new techniques, all designed to improve the capability of humans living longer and healthier lives.

Individual Usage
Individuals are not the most common groups of people using a tissue bank. These individuals typically do so for very specific reasons, in order to prolong their lives in case of emergency. Many of these individuals are born with genetic mutations, critical health conditions or rare blood types, so finding donors or the necessary genetic material for their bodies becomes extremely difficult, especially if they are in a limited time window. People who fit into these categories often have items stored inside of a human tissue bank. This ranges anywhere from the umbilical cord or placenta after birth, all the way to their blood or other tissue elements. This allows they to contact the human tissue bank in the event of an emergency and have the material delivered to a hospital for utilization.

Research
The primary usage of human tissue banks is for research. Professors from research universities often obtain government grants designed to study the effects of specific elements on the human body and certain tissues of the body. The amount of money it requires to maintain such a facility, not to mention the laws and regulations for holding human tissue is rather extensive, which is why there are limited number of locations that are able to do just this. Universities are not often allowed to have their own tissue bank, which is why having one nearby allow for improved research for these colleges and the professors who work there. Third party organizations and companies looking to study new drugs and equipment often take advantage of these banks as well, and while these company are typically looking to progress its own product, it does allow for further study and understanding of the medication and what it can and cannot do to and for the body.

Human tissue banks are vital in the growth of medical science and the overall understanding of how the body works, which is why it is so important to take advantage of these locations.

Understanding the Four Key Components to Successful Cancer Research

Cancer can and will be stamped out, one type at a time. We only need to create as many opportunities as possible for our scientists to reach breakthrough discoveries through their research. These opportunities can be created by nearly any type of person, from cancer tissue donors to the scientists themselves.

If your lab is thinking about conducting cancer research, or is looking to optimize how it conducts its current cancer research, then you should have a thorough understanding of how to make the most out of the four key components for successful cancer research.

1. The cancer tissue donors
Without cancer tissue donations, no cancer research whatsoever can occur. In order to help ensure that all labs, including yours, have access to an adequate supply of cancer tissue samples, you should help motivate as many tissue donations as possible.

Although you almost certainly do not want your lab to transform into an organization solely focused on charitable donations, participating in the effort to increase the number of donations of cancer tissues to at least some degree will greatly help your cause. These types of actions also highlight your lab's efforts to learn more about cancer and could result in the targeted donation of cancer tissues to your lab.

2. The human tissue banks
Even if the scientific community were saturated with samples of donated cancer tissues, gaining access to this tissue is not necessarily an easy endeavor; the logistics of it can be mind-boggling. That is why we have experts.

Human tissue banks that store cancer tissues alleviate this problem by not only handling all of the logistics of acquiring and storing human tissue, but also by providing you with access to it in a timely fashion. Many of them even provide same day delivery service. However, finding a human tissue bank that fits your needs is not always an easy endeavor. To make sure that their services will work for your lab, you should make sure that they do the following things:

•    Rapid delivery
•    Quality storage (damaged tissue samples are usually worthless to you)
•    Customizable sampling orders
•    Tissue variety
•    An experienced team

3. Your lab equipment
Your lab's equipment should enhance the efficiency of your cancer research endeavors, not hinder them. Take the time to keep up with the lab equipment market. Many pieces of equipment only offer minor updates that are not worth the investment. Others, however, will be exactly what your lab needs to take the possibilities of your research to the next level.

4. Your research team
Your lab's research team is almost as invaluable to the process of cancer research as the cancer tissue donors themselves.

A lab can become so insular that the researchers within begin to lose track of the outside world. However, keeping up to date with the latest happenings in the scientific community, whether directly or indirectly related to your cancer research, could help you catapult your research endeavors to the next level.
Make sure your scientists are informed.

How iKnife Technology will Revolutionize the Way We Collect Cancer Tissue

The name iKnife may sound like the name a certain technology company would give its products if it ever branched into the kitchen cutlery business, but you can rest assured that intelligent knife (iKnife) technology is revolutionizing the way we excise cancer tissue.

What is iKnife technology?
Normal electrosurgical knives removes tissue using a sharp edge and a rapid heating element to vaporize the tissue that it directly contacts; this creates clean cuts that allow for the quick and easy excision of cancer tissues. The iKnife technology takes this action a step farther. When an electrosurgical knife vaporizes tissue, it creates a tissue fragment containing aerosol that is usually disposed of by vacuum extraction tools; instead of allowing this vapor to go to waste, an iKnife immediately collects and analyzes this aerosol vapor, and determines whether or not it includes cancerous tissue within seconds. This vastly improves the accuracy of surgical cutting.

How will iKnife technology aid in the collection of cancer tissue?
First and foremost, improving the speed of surgical cuts increases patient safety during excision procedures. Current excision procedures require the separate collection and rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REMS) testing of excised tissue to determine whether or not it is cancerous. The separate (REMS) process can take up to 30 minutes and the patient remains under anesthesia during this time; finding ways to reduce patient anesthesia time has always been a key element in improving patient safety during surgical procedures.

iKnife excision is also improving the precision of cancer excision procedures. This precision further improves the safety of the patient during an excision procedure by instantaneously confirming that the tissue being excised is indeed cancer tissue. In addition, a large percentage of cancer patients have to undergo multiple surgeries to remove cancer tissue that was missed during the initial excision procedure--this number is 20% for breast cancer lumpectomies--the increased precision of iKnife technology will greatly reduce the number of occurrences of multiple excision treatments AND cancer relapses. This precision also enhances the ability for scientists to collect cancer tissues in the largest possible volumes for biological research; this will be a huge boon for biological research involving especially rare cancer tissues such as most sarcomas and endocrine organ cancers.

In the world of biological science, where a single experiment can take months, or even years, efficiency is everything. By improving the accuracy and volume of cancer tissue excisions, iKnife technology is inherently improving the speed of the excision of cancer tissues.

Where can iKnife surgical technology be acquired?
The iKnife technology is still undergoing development to maximize the potential of iKnives in practical settings. Clinical testing thus far has yielded excellent results and researchers are working to maximize the cost effectiveness of the tool.

Importance of Correct Extraction and Storage of Biological Samples

Blood is one of the most sensitive biological samples in existence. Collecting blood samples is a more involved process than sticking a subject and sucking fluid into a vial. Improperly collecting blood samples exponentially increases the likelihood of hemolysis. To avoid this, you should utilize the correct equipment and employ a trained phlebotomist who can properly extract the sample.

Why Use a Phelbotomist Instead of a Regular Staff Member?

The process of extracting blood samples is exposed to many variables, including the extraction and collection/storage equipment available, the subject's vein size and the laws of physics.

Vein selection

Many who are untrained to extract blood samples will use a syringe to probe for the vein. This causes vein trauma, will destroy red blood cells and is likely to cause immediate hemolysis. Although vein trauma can occur regardless of the extractor's skill level, trained phelbotomists know how to recognize it; when this happens, they know that the first sample is likely hemolyzed, but subsequent extractions are unlikely to be damaged.

Phelbotomists will also choose the correct sized vein. Blood extracted from veins too small for the extraction equipment available is likely to hemolyze.

Collection/storage

Improper collection procedures are just as likely to damage a biological samples as poor extraction. As experts, phelbotomists are sure to collect the right amount of blood for storage (underfilled tubes alter the additive ratio; poor additive ratios lead to hemolysis). They also make recommendations for the best storage methods.

Tool selection

Regardless of the tools available, phelbotomists choose or request the best tools for the extraction and collection/storage process. This prevents your lab from processing a large collection of samples, only to realize that the entire procedure has been ruined by hemolysis.

Other procedures

Properly executing other seemingly minor procedures can be the difference between having a good sample and one destroyed by hemolysis. For example, a phelbotomist knows that you must allow alcohol to completely dry before attempting blood sample extraction, because the chemical might invade the sample and cause hemolysis.

Why Blood Sample Extraction and Collection/Storage Equipment Should be Chosen Carefully

Extraction equipment

If a needle is too large, it will force blood into the tube violently, causing the red blood cells to rupture; if a needle is too small, it will draw the blood through the syringe with excessive force, shearing the red blood cells. Both of these eventualities is likely to cause hemolysis. You should take the utmost care with your extraction equipment selection.

Collection/storage equipment

If at all possible, you should choose evacuated tube collection over syringe collection; syringe collection has proven to be over six times more likely to result in hemolysis than evacuated tube collection.

For storage of biological samples, you should use modern evacuated tubes, which make rim clots unnecessary. You should only mix the tube through gentle inversions. NEVER shake the sample. Storage temperatures should be regulated. Finally, always be cautious when transporting the specimen, as rough handling can lead to hemolysis-causing trauma; hand deliver blood samples whenever possible.