Adult stem cells are harvested from the bone marrow in the hip bone by way of a bone marrow biopsy. This is a routine procedure in Germany, performed by the XCell-Center / Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Cologne. In other countries, the procedure may be performed by respectively qualified physicians.

The XCell-Center has been treating patients suffering from chronic degenerative diseases with their own body's stem cells since January 2007: first, the stem cells are isolated from the bone marrow to subsequently - after they have been prepared in the laboratory and no more than three days after their removal - be reintroduced in the affected tissue. While waiting for re=administering, the prepared stem cell concentrate is interim stored in liquid nitrate at a temperature of minus 196 degrees Celsius. The cells are gently defrosted in a warm water immersion just before they are re-injected into the patient's body.

This process - i.e. the removal, preparation, freezing, defrosting and therapeutic utilization - is always the same, regardless of whether the time passing between freezing and defrosting of the cells is two days or twenty years.

The Bone Marrow Biopsy Procedure
The bone marrow is biopsied from the hip bone on an out-patient basis. The procedure takes a total of about 30 minutes. It begins with the local anesthesia of the area from which the sample is to be taken. Subsequently, about 150-200 ml bone marrow are removed with a fine needle. The injection of the anesthetic may be slightly painful, while most patients barely feel the performance of the bone marrow biopsy. Shortly after the procedure is complete, the patient is released to return home. The bone marrow specimen is subsequently cooled and processed in-house and transported to the laboratory for processing as quickly as possible.