Stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) used at Regenesis are autologous human tissue. This means these tissues come from a patient’s own body. We use these biologics in regenerative medicine to support the body's natural healing processes for several reasons. First, stem cells and platelets are key components of the body’s capacity to repair injured, degenerated, or diseased structures. When we are young and healthy these and other healing factors are able to repair damage from overuse, injury and disease. As we age, the viability, potency and concentration of stem cells and platelets the body can mobilize decreases and our body struggles to regenerate tissue as quickly as it degenerates. Also, at any age, our bodies can struggle to repair tissue damaged due to an acute injury or condition. When it comes to joints, the capacity of the body to overcome injury and disease is further complicated by the fact that these structures have relatively poor blood supply, making it difficult for the body to mobilize sufficient concentrations of stem cells and platelets to injured or diseased tissue to promote healing. Of course, since autologous tissue comes from a patient’s own body, there is no problem with rejection that would be the case with donated tissue.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with the unique ability to differentiate into specialized cell types and to self-renew. In the body, stem cells can be liberated from bone marrow or adipose tissue in one of three ways: vigorous exercise, hyperbaric treatment, or mechanically. At Regenesis, we mechanically harvest (aspirate) stem cells from the bone marrow of a patient's iliac crest (the large bone in the upper hip). To foster stem cell proliferation, implantation, viability, and angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels to improve blood supply to damaged areas) we add pre and post procedure hyperbaric therapy. Our stem cell and PRP therapies fall into the domain of medicine. Since stem cells and PRP are autologous, we are using a patient’s own tissue rather than drugs to foster healing. As such, stem cells and PRP are considered biologic products or cell-based therapies (when we treat joint injuries and disease they are known as Orthobiologics). Stem cells are employed in medical therapies to foster the repair and regeneration of damaged tissues, promote healing, and reduce inflammation. At Regenesis, we process patient bone marrow in our onsite lab for reinjection into patients as part of same day procedures. Typically, we reinject at least five hundred million if not billions of nucleated cells (bone marrow concentrate) of which an important fraction will be stem cells. We perform these precision image-guided injections using fluoroscopy and/or ultrasound.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) is a concentration of platelets obtained from the patient's own blood. At Regenesis, we typically see platelet concentrations that are 5 to 15 times that found in blood drawn from patients. We prepare PRP by collecting a blood sample and then using special centrifuges operating at precise speed ranges for specific amounts of time to separate the platelet-rich plasma from other blood components.
PRP contains growth factors and cytokines that promote tissue repair and regeneration. Like stem cells, PRP is a biologic product, not a drug. Medical fields, including orthopedics, sports medicine, dermatology, dentistry, wound care, and aesthetics use PRP to enhance healing and tissue regeneration and repair.
While PRP has terrific healing properties, creating PRP that is truly platelet rich entails considerable processing of patient blood and lab analysis prior to use. The lab results for patient “kt” below illustrate how key constituents of patient blood changes from the initial blood draw to delivery of PRP ready for use. As indicated, patient “kt’s” blood had a baseline platelet count of 121×103 platelets per milliliter of blood. After two hours of processing, “kt’s” PRP with 1,113×103 platelets per milliliter of plasma (9 times greater concentration of platelets) was ready for use in his procedure. Of note, the resultant product, PRP, was no longer blood since processing it into PRP also removed red blood cells and many other inflammatory cells (the RBC counts fell from 6.22×106 per milliliter of blood to 0.05×106 per milliliter of plasma). This nearly complete removal of red blood cells greatly reduces the incidence of post procedure inflammation and pain.
Both stem cells and PRP have regenerative properties and therapeutic applications. They are part of the field of regenerative medicine, which focuses on harnessing the body's natural healing abilities to reverse injuries, tissue loss, and diseases that engender pain, reduces function and, in the case of Aesthetics, contributes to the loss of tissue volume that can result in a “hollow” appearance. Our use of potent concentrations of Stem Cells and PRP allows Regenesis to help patients increase their health span to match their lifespan while reversing the effects of aging.
