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ACT III - Regenerative Medicine’s aid in the process.

Regenerative medicine is a process of harnessing the body’s resources to heal injured tissues. Usually this requires the movement of adult stem cells or MSCs to the areas where they are needed most, which can be done directly or indirectly. 

The direct method of cell delivery is transferring MSCs from one area of the body with a rich depot of cells directly to the injury site. The best source of MSCs, growth factors, and proteins found in the patient’s own body is located in the bone marrow of the Iliac Crest. The iliac crest is the curved shelf of the pelvic bone and it is an ideal site for extracting MSCs due to the rich density of cells, accessibility by the physician, and safety and comfort of the patient.

A probe is inserted into the marrow and a rapid suction force is applied to separate the pericyte MSCs from the hundreds of blood vessels running through the tissue.

The MSC-rich bone marrow aspirate is removed from the body in multiple small volumes, ensuring superior retrieval of stem cells and less dilution by peripheral blood.

Once an adequate amount of fluid is removed, it is loaded through a filter into a sterile device and then centrifuged to separate its components by the density of different cell types. The platelet-poor plasma is the lightest density and will float to the top.  The red blood cells are the heaviest, so they will float to the bottom.  The buffy coat, where the fraction of white blood cells, platelets, and most MSCs reside, is found in-between the red blood cells and plasma, and it makes up for less than .1% of the entire volume. 

A trained technician will carefully extract the buffy coat, also known as bone marrow concentrate, and a physician will inject the BMC directly into the injury site for immediate function. This is often referred to as an Adult Stem Cell Procedure.  The entire process usually takes less than 30 minutes.

The indirect method of regenerative medicine is to create an inflammatory response that would recruit MSCs into the injury from adjacent vascular tissues.  One source of indirect therapy is platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, which comes from the centrifugation of a patient’s peripheral blood to capture the platelets. Platelets are like bags filled with growth factors and proteins, and they are released when they approach an injury. Furthermore, they create a local inflammatory response with the growth factors and proteins in order to stimulate local blood cells and repair damaged tissue that failed to heal immediately after the initial injury. A secondary mechanism of action is to recruit MSCs from nearby blood vessels to perform their natural function in musculoskeletal healing.

Regenerative medicine is a natural and safe treatment option that utilizes the patient’s own cells and proteins to enhance the healing process by reducing inflammation and pain.  This treatment simply doesn’t treat the symptom, like many pharmaceutical drugs, but it has the potential to resolve the underlying problem allowing patients to return to normal activities, regain normal functions of movement, and in many cases, avoid surgery or more invasive procedures.