Bone marrow concentrate and platelet-rich plasma acquisition and preparation: Why technique matters

Current best practices in regenerative medicine use cell and platelet preparations derived from a patient׳s blood or bone marrow aspirate, concentrated at the point of care, and returned to the patient during a single surgical or clinical event. As a field in its infancy, there is great confusion among many physicians, patients, regulatory agencies, and the media about what these therapies represent, their safety and efficacy, and how they are properly administered. Advances in bone marrow aspiration technique and concentration technologies have resulted in consistent significant increases in mesenchymal stem cell content in pursuit of threshold or minimum progenitor concentrations for successful outcomes described by clinical studies treating bone and soft tissues. This report reviews current preclinical and clinical data on the acquisition, processing, and administration techniques of platelet-rich plasma and bone marrow concentrate while discussing the regulatory environment around these and other cellular and regenerative medicine products.