Automated haematopoietic stem cells harvesting machine

The human placenta and umbilical cord blood (UCB) provide a rich source of highly-proliferative haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for many clinical uses with advantages over traditional sources like the bone marrow and periphery blood. However, the current constraint with this source of HSCs is the inadequate number of HSCs cells which can be harvested in a single collection using current approaches which render a large number of collections unusable on their own, even for paediatric patients. The large reservoir of useful HSCs within the placenta has to be discarded upon the delivery of the placenta out of the maternal body. A novel design, involving mechanical, electronics and control components, seeks to create an artificial uterus force to harvest the HSCs. This paper will present the development of this automated device to enable more effective harvesting of HSCs from placentas, upon the discharge of placentas after deliveries. Preliminary results, in terms of mononucleated cells (MNCs) count and CD34+ cells count, will be furnished to verify the effectiveness of the developed system, over the other current approaches.