The effect of sterilization of gamma irradiation on allogeneic tissue materials

Standard operating procedures of hard tissues such as femoral head, allografts obtained from living donors

Progress in medical science and cell biology has resulted in the transplantation of human cells and tissues from on human into another, facilitating reproduction and the restoration of form and function, as well as enhancing the quality of life. For more than 40 years, society has recognized the medical and humanitarian value of donation and transplanting organs and tissues. The standard operating procedures of hard tissues reflect the collective expertise and conscientious efforts of tissue bank professionals to provide a foundation for the guidance of tissue banking activities. Procurement of allograft tissues from surgical bone donors is a part of tissue banking. During the past decades the use of bone allografts has become widely accepted for the filling of skelectal defects in a variety of surgical procedures. In particular in the field of orthopaedic and oral and maxillofacial surgery the demand for allografts obtained from either living or post-mortem donors has increased. Hospital-based tissue banks mainly retrieve allografts from living donors undergoing primary total hip replacement for osteoarthritis or hemi arthroplasty for hip fractures and orthgnatic surgery such as angle reduction. Although bone banks have existed for many years, the elements of organized and maintaining a hospital bone bank have not been well documented. The experience with a tissue bank at Korea Tissue Bank(KTB) between 2001 and 2004 provides a model of procurement, storage, processing, sterilization and documentation associated with such a facility. The following report describes the standard operating procedures of hard tissues such as femoral head obtained from living donors.