We believe your cells represent an important form of “bio-insurance.” Producing your cells after an “elective” mini-liposuction during a convenient time that you choose has several advantages. Not only can we store your own DNA now, but we should be able to soon culture your cells to increase the total quantity of stem cells, too.
As far as logistics, if you have a heart attack or stroke or unexpected severe injury or illness you might not be in a situation that would permit elective liposuction. If one expected to benefit from rapid deployment of one’s own stem cells, this could be best achieved if the cells were readily available “on ice” and ready to be sent out.
Many sports injuries could be more rapidly repaired using your own stem cells. Cell surgical Network is conducting studies on the use of SVF to mitigate concussions. If athletes – professional, collegiate and even high school – that participated in sports known for contact injuries could harvest their cells during a convenient off-season period their cells would always be ready when needed.
Your fat will be converted into SVF which includes mesenchymal adult stem cells. The process will be performed in an FDA approved sterile lab where experts will bathe the SVF cells in a vital fluid that protects them during the freezing process. They are then stored at 190 degrees below zero. Twenty five 25cc of condensed fat can be converted into up to four aliquots of SVF which are individually frozen and available for 4 different treatments. Each of those aliquots could in turn be “expanded” into many millions more cells under investigational protocols for even more deployments in the future.
The way we treat cancer is about to change in a revolutionary way and your stem cells may be an integral part of a cancer treatment. Cancer patients are often debilitated and might benefit from having access to healthy stem cells taken from their bodies before they contracted their disease. These stem cells may carry vital cancer killing agents directly into the tumor. Also, with new special blood testing that can detect cancer cells before they become clinically apparent (e.g. seen, felt, or detected on MRI or x-ray), it may also be possible for your cells to hunt down these cancer cells before you get sick.
Based on research being done now, healthy stem cells removed in your youth may play an important clinical role in longevity and wellness also. Your cells may be the key to the “fountain of youth.” Because your cells have the capacity to be replicated, by banking cells now, we can eventually set up the replication process so we can return many more of your own cells from time to time. In theory, by frequently providing you your own stem cells, they can be used to continually renew vital body parts as they naturally deteriorate from routine cell death. Imagine being able to maintain healthy heart and vital function with youthful stamina and strength well in your hundreds – we believe this is possible. We say “taking good care of your cells and being able to replace them” may be the key to longevity with good health and function. While allogenic (from other people) stem cells may one day be available, we’re committed to preserving your own DNA as well.
Additionally, if you suffer from a condition that requires multiple infusions of stem cells, it would be much easier to harvest more fat and thus cells at one sitting and simply receive the cells when necessary from time to time without going through a cell harvesting procedure (e.g. liposuction or bone marrow tap) each visit. The key to successful cell therapy in many cases is repeat treatments.
Finally, a lot of people want to get rid of undesired fat for appearance sake. That means that thousands of people every year end up throwing away their wonderful stem cells without even knowing it. We think this is a terrible waste and that patients should be routinely advised that they can freeze their cells to save the fat and stem cells as they choose.
Yes, younger cells are best. In general, cells in fat are much more durable and stable with age in comparison to bone marrow derived cells where the quantity of stem cells and proliferative potential (vitality) decreases every decade of life. However, even in fat derived cells, the quality of the stem cells does diminish gradually with age and the best cells are stored when you are younger but it’s never too late if you plan.
No. Your stem cells from fat tissue are frozen in the form of SVF which is derived from processing your fat. SVF is also known as Stromal Vascular Fraction. This is derived from the liposuction and digestion of the loose connective tissue that surrounds small blood vessels and fat. This connective tissue binds mesenchymal stem cells including cells that are destined to become blood vessels and fat but can be diverted for repair and regeneration of numerous tissues around the body including nerve, muscle, blood vessel, bone, and many more. In addition to these stem cells, there are abundant white blood cells, lymphocytes, immune cells, growth factors, and other cell types such as red blood cells, endothelial cells and epithelial cells.
At some point in the not too distant future, we will be able to “expand” (replicate multiple times) the stem cells in your SVF which makes them immortal and will provide an unlimited supply of healing cells. Once your SVF is “expanded,” only the stem cells will be replicated. These expanded stem cells will be frozen as pure cells instead of SVF.
Your fat will be converted into SVF which includes mesenchymal adult stem cells. The process will be performed in an FDA approved sterile lab where experts will bathe the SVF cells in a vital fluid that protects them during the freezing process. They are then stored at 190 degrees below zero. Twenty five 25cc of condensed fat can be converted into up to four aliquots of SVF which are individually frozen and available for 4 different treatments.
Under appropriate regulatory approval, your frozen SVF can be returned to your physician. Thawed SVF must be treated, washed and filtered to prepare it for deployment. This process requires special training and equipment and is performed at American Cryostem as part of the releases program ($500 fee).. The thawing process is very important and many steps are taken to ensure that the cells remain sterile and are undamaged by their journey and are healthy and ready to work when you need them.
As measured by the proliferative potential (time it takes for cell replication) and differentiation ability (ability to form different tissues) we provide evidence that shows the SVF can be frozen and thawed for use while maintaining its vitality. Validation studies confirm that cells that are properly frozen and thawed have the same viability as fresh tissue.
There are numerous uses for SVF. SVF is currently being studied as a potential treatment for a variety of degenerative and inflammatory conditions such as heart disease, COPD and emphysema, critical limb ischemia, many degenerative diseases of the eye, Peyronies disease and interstitial cystitis, lichen sclerosis, and orthopedic conditions such as osteoarthritis, chronic and acute muscle and tendon injuries and even to help speed up and better mend fractures and other orthopedic surgical procedures. It is being used and will find more uses for a large variety of neurological conditions including stroke, concussion, traumatic brain injuries of all kinds, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and others. SVF is also used in auto-immune and even in some rare congenital disorders. Studies are also ongoing to use SVF to help deliver cancer killing agents directly into the tumor.
Mini-lipoharvesting can be performed under local anesthesia through a tiny 2mm puncture in a very short time. This generally is completed within 10 – 15 minutes. Patients report minimal discomfort and can be back to work right away. Patients can also save some of the fat from elective cosmetic procedures by telling their surgeon ahead of time to contact Cells On Ice and they will be provided with a kit for sending some fat to our facility. Sadly, much fat is simply “thrown away” after these liposuctions and patients do not realize that they are disposing of their own “liquid biologic gold.”
Minimal. Excellent safety data has been shown with the use of autologous cell therapies (1). There have been more than 17,000 scientific articles involving 2,724 cell therapy clinical trials have been published since 2000. (2). these results include 323,000 patients receiving more than 675,000 cell deployments. The treatments were very safe and often highly effective in the mitigation of various degenerative conditions. (1,2,3). The Cell Surgical Network has performed over 6000 IRB approved procedures for the deployment of SVF containing autologous stem cells for various degenerative conditions with clinical results showing excellent safety data.
1. Mason, C.; Manzotti, E. Regenerative medicine cell therapies: numbers of units manufactured and patients treated between 1988 and 2010. Regen. Med. 5:307-313; 2010.
2. Culme-Seymour, E. J.; Davie, N. L.; Brindley, D. A.; Edwards-Parton, S.; Mason, C. A decade of cell therapy clinical trials (2000-2010). Regen. Med. 7:455-462; 2012.
3. Strioga, M.; Viswanathan, S.; Darinskas, A.; Slaby, O.; Michalek, J. Same or not the same? Comparison of adipose tissue-derived versus bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem and stromal cells. Stem Cells Dev. 21:2724-2752; 2012.
Certain basic laboratory tests are required before the Cells On Ice cryobank can accept any human tissue in order to eradicate the chance of spread of communicable disease. These simple blood tests include: syphilis, HIV, and Hepatitis.
Your cells will be in large tanks filled with liquid nitrogen in a secure main location in New Jersey. This sterile facility was established in 2008 for the sole purpose of storing and eventually replicating autologous (i.e. your own) adult stem cells. Many failsafe systems are in place to protect your cells from unexpected events such as power loss or natural disaster.
Probably indefinitely. The freezing process is designed so that cells frozen for long periods can have excellent viability. You can even make arrangements to provide for them in your will for other family members with your genetics or even other people who might benefit from cell therapy but are unable to have their own cells available. Cryobiology has demonstrated that frozen cells can remain viable for many decades.
Multiple overlapping systems are in place to protect labelling and the “chain of custody” which means that your stem cells are identified strictly as your own and cannot be mixed up with someone else’s cells either in storage or in transit.
We are now able to freeze your stem cells in the form of SVF in as many as 4 small vials that can be individually thawed for individual serial treatments. By expanding cells from each of these vials, one could provide multiple additional cells for multiple periodic deployments. Cells expanded under investigational protocols, will provide a nearly unlimited supply.
Yes, we are also able to freeze fat before it is made into SVF. This takes up more room but should excess fat tissue be available by storing it you maintain an excellent source of tissue that can be very effective for cosmetic procedures like facial fat grafting, breast augmentation or repair of various defects that may occur with age, trauma or disease.
That may be possible in the future, but will require special arrangements. Please call 855-204-0302 to discuss options.
We believe this may be the best health insurance you could ever purchase. While there will always be diseases that require medical and surgical intervention, eventually, all conditions might require replacement or supplementation with new cells (i.e. replacement parts). To store your SVF the general cost is $2,500 and that include the first year’s storage fee. After that, there will be an annual storage fee of $240/year. One can also store a “Bio-Insurance” dose of expanded cells (50 million) in a “ready to use” rapid deployment dose for the future when there is no time to start expanding cells (6-8 weeks). This costs $5,500.
If you have very average health insurance for yourself only, it’s probably costing over $500/month or $6,000 / year. This may end up being one of the cheapest and most valuable insurance policies you may possess.
Cord blood technically contains some stem cells in quite low quantities and these may not be sufficient for your future medical needs.
Under special circumstances, first degree relatives may be able to use your cells. Special blood screening would be necessary as well as regulatory approval.
Research is actively ongoing to use stem cells to help advance cancer therapies. Stem cells have a unique ability to detect abnormal tissue and can play an active role in the destruction of cancer cells by bringing cancer killing agents directly to the cancerous tissue in a targeted fashion. Stem cells can also play a vital role in the mitigation of cellular damage to living tissue that resulted from the administration of chemotherapy or radiation therapy in an attempt to kill tumors. Much of the original stem cell research was done to show that stem cells were indeed essential for treating radiation damage.
The FDA registers and may inspect cryo-preservation facilities like American Cryostem. The cryopreservation of stem cells is highly regulated to protect patients from the transmission of infectious disease. Your cells will be preserved in a bank that has the highest standards.
American Cryostem in New Jersey is our contracting Cryobank. It is internationally known to be one of the best cryobanks in the world.