Stem cells from newborns’ umbilical cords and placenta are normally tossed, but some Johns Hopkins students have come up with a new system that could significantly increase collections.

The stem cells could then be used to boost the immune systems of patients with leukemia and lymphoma and other blood disorders.

The invention called CBx System is in the testing stage, but the students – all pursuing master's degrees in the university's Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design -- have gotten a provisional patent for the technology and formed a company called TheraCord LLC. They hope it will eventually be widely used in hospital maternity wards.

“Cord blood, collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after live birth, is the most viable source of stem cells, yet over 90 percent is uncollected and discarded,” the team members wrote for a presentation at the university's recent Biomedical Engineering Design Day. “One of the main reasons valuable cord blood is so frequently discarded is because no adequate collection method exists.”

Now, when a baby is born the parents have to opt to save the cord blood and pay for it, unless they are at one of 180 hospitals that are affiliated with public cord blood banks where parents can donate cord blood.

And the method of collection relies on gravity. Only 40-50 percent of units collected can be used for transplants and the stem cells are usually only enough for a child. The students’ collection method uses mechanical forces and a chemical solution to detach and flush more stem cells from the cord and placenta vessels – up to 50 percent more stem cells.

The students, who have graduated, will keep working so they can get even more.

So, would you donate?

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