The MarrowMiner: A Novel Minimally Invasive and Effective Device for the Harvest of Bone Marrow

Abstract

Bone marrow (BM) is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and other important stem/progenitor cells. It is the traditional source of cells used in hematopoietic cell transplantation, which is a proven curative treatment for many blood and immune diseases. BM-derived cells have also been shown to have other diverse clinical uses and are increasingly being used in orthopedic medicine, regenerative medicine, and gene therapy applications. Traditional methods for harvesting BM are crude, tedious, time-consuming, and expensive, requiring multiple bone punctures under general anesthesia with serial small-volume aspirates often diluted with peripheral blood. The MarrowMiner (MM) is a novel device designed for rapid and minimally invasive BM harvest. Here we show the safety and efficacy of the MM in both preclinical and clinical settings. In a large-animal porcine model, the MM enabled effective BM collection with similar total nucleated cell collection and increased colony formation compared with standard methods. The MM was subsequently evaluated in a clinical study showing effective and complication-free anterior and posterior BM collection of 20 patients under only local anesthesia or light sedation. Increased total nucleated and mononucleated cell collection was achieved with the MM compared with standard methods in the same patients. Importantly, stem cell content was high with trends toward increased HSC, MSC, and endothelial progenitor cells with similar T cell content. Given the MM is a novel device approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, enabling safe, effective, and minimally invasive harvest of BM, we anticipate rapid adoption for various applications.

Pannexin-1 channel “fuels” by releasing ATP from bone marrow cells a state of sterile inflammation required for optimal mobilization and homing of hematopoietic stem cells

“…In subsequent years, two other important sources of HSPCs emerged that are mobilized peripheral blood (PB) and umbilical cord blood (UCB). With all these sources of cells, very often, a number of HSPCs that are present in harvested BM, mobilized PB, or UCB unit are limited [1][2][3]. In humans, a successful transplantation requires a sufficient number of harvested HSPCs per kg body weight of the patient, and a fast, consistent, and long-term multilineage engraftment requires the intravenous infusion of a minimum of 2 × 10 6 CD34 + stem cells/kg recipient body weight; however, a higher dose of 5 × 10 6 CD34 + cells/kg is considered preferable.…”

A Novel Evidence That Mannan Binding Lectin (MBL) Pathway of Complement Cascade Activation is Involved in Homing and Engraftment of Hematopoietic Stem Progenitor Cells (HSPCs)

“…Hematopoietic transplants since more than 50 years are established the most successful therapeutic application of stem cells. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) present in harvested from a donor bone marrow (BM), mobilized peripheral blood (mPB) or umbilical cord blood (UCB) unit are infused intravenously into myeloablated patient to home and subsequently engraft and expand in recipient BM microenvironment, with aim to establish long term normal hematopoiesis [1][2][3][4].…”

Perinatal Tissue-Derived Stem Cells: An Emerging Therapeutic Strategy for Challenging Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…Moreover, other complications may be present including the frequent presence of acute and/or chronic pain at the sites of aspiration, anemia, vasovagal reaction, and infection [64]. To try to overcome these challenges, a device for a rapid, poorly invasive harvest of BM for both autologous and allogeneic use, called "MarrowMiner", has been developed and recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration [65].…”