Procedure

This procedure is unlike the controversial practice where embryos are used, instead the child's own bone marrow is extracted, processed and reimplanted.

On the first day, bone marrow is collected from the patient's iliac crest (hip bone) using thin-needle mini-puncture under anaesthesia.

The next day, the stem cells are processed from the bone marrow in a state-of-the-art, government approved (cGMP) laboratory. In the lab, both the quantity and quality of the stem cells are measured. These cells have the potential to transform into multiple types of cells and are capable of regenerating or repairing damaged tissue.

On the third day, the stem cells are implanted back into the patient by lumbar puncture or surgical implantation. Surgical implantation is performed under general anaesthesia for all patients, a spinal needle is inserted between L4 and L5 vertebrae and a small amount of spinal fluid is remove, a portion of that spinal fluid is mixed with the stem cell solution, which is then injected into back into the patient's spinal fluid, not the spinal cord.

Patients who are treated by lumbar puncture are required to stay in town on the day after their procedure for general safety purposes. They may return home on the fifth day.

Surgical implantation patients may leave upon discharge from the hospital, usually on the ninth or tenth day, depending upon how their recovery.