Process and Procedures

The following process is followed by Netcells:

A non-refundable Collection Fee needs to be made to cover the costs of the collection kit and courier to the laboratory.

A unique Client Identity Number will be issued to you, which secures you a specific place in the storage vault.

2. Collection Kit

One of our consultants will call you to arrange to meet with you personally to handover the Collection Kit and take you through the entire process.

3. Maternal Blood Tests

In terms of our Accreditation Standards, 2 sets of maternal blood tests are required.

The 1st maternal blood tests needs to be done within a period of 7 days before the birth or 7 days after the birth.

The following blood tests are required:

4. Informing Your Obstetrician

Please inform your Obstetrician/Midwife of your intention to collect your baby’s umbilical cord blood. The Collection Procedure is relatively simple but needs to be properly done in order to ensure that a sufficient quantity of cord blood is collected in a sterile manner that ensures the stem cells viability. The Obstetrician/Midwife will be provided with a Collection Protocol.

Please note that your Obstetrician/Midwife cannot be held liable should insufficient stem cells be collected for whatever reason.

5. Birth and Collection of Cord Blood

The Collection Kit is taken to the birth.

After the baby has been born and safely handed over, the Obstetrician/Midwife will clamp the umbilical cord and insert a needle into the umbilical cord vein.

As much blood as possible will be collected by draining the blood into the collection bag by gravity. The blood bag can accept up to 200ml and we accept a minimum of 50ml. Our average blood collection is 100ml. The more blood that is collected, the better the chance of harvesting a good quantity of stem cells.

6. Packaging and Courier

The father/birth partner then takes responsibility for the blood, which he/she will place in the temperature coolant kit, in the carrier box.

The carrier box will then be placed into the courier bag and the father/birth partner will sign the courier waybill.

He/she will then call Netcells to arrange courier pick-up, giving the room/ward number at the hospital. The blood must be kept at room temperature and not be placed in a refrigerator.

The parents need to ensure that the blood is kept with them at all times, until collected directly by the courier.

The Collection Kit will then be couriered to the laboratory.

7. Receipt at Laboratory

On receipt, the blood sample is logged into the management system through its unique Client Identification Number and is bar-coded, to ensure traceability at all times.

8. Processing and Testing

Full flow cytometry testing is carried out on the cells to ensure that sufficient CD34+ (haematopoietic) stem cells have been collected and that they are viable for storage. The blood is then separated in a closed system into 3 layers of (1) red blood cells, (2) plasma and (3) the buffy coat, in which all white cells are captured.

The stem cells form part of the buffy coat layer. The red blood cells and plasma are then separated out through volume reduction, so that only the buffy coat remains.

A cryopreservative agent, DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide) is then added to the buffy coat which increases the porosity of the cell wall and ensures that the cells are not damaged during the freezing process.

9. Cryogenic Freezing

The cells are then hermetically sealed in a cryogenic bag and encased in an aluminium cassette. This will provide the cells with physical protection during storage and transit, but more significantly, the aluminium cassette is also fundamental to the success of the freezing process by providing a consistent heat path.

The cells are then slowly and very precisely frozen within a controlled rate freezer, which ensures that the cells are not mechanically damaged during the freezing process.

10. Storage

The stem cells are then placed in medically registered storage vaults. The cells are stored in the vapour phase above liquid nitrogen at around -196 C, way above the -135 C required where biological processes are halted, so that ageing is stopped. We will inform you once your baby’s stem cells have been successfully stored and issue you with a Certificate of Storage confirming this.

The Processing and Storage Fee is then due and payable.

Your Invoice, Certificate of Storage together with the Laboratory Results will be posted, as well as emailed for your electronic records.

You can also Download our Storage, Related Services and Informed Consent Agreement.

11. Retrievals

Netcells can possibly provide consultation in the event of required stem cell transplantation.

Should the cells ever be required, you will need to contact Netcells, in consultation with your physician.

Once all the necessary approvals have been received, the cassette containing the cells will be transported anywhere in the world in special cryogenic shippers, free-of-charge.

These will hold temperatures below -150 C for up to 10 days without recharging and which are designed and approved to allow carriage in any means of transport.

The cells would then arrive at the designated medical centre still cryogenically preserved and would be thawed (a very rapid process) at the patient’s bedside immediately prior to transplantation at body temperature.