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For Parents
Why Healthcord - Preferred Safe Storage
Next-Generation Vapor Phase Storage Tanks
Next-Generation Vapor Phase Storage Tanks are used by Healthcord exclusively. This reduces the risk of cross-infection of your child's cord blood sample by communicable diseases. Healthcord is one of few laboratories using this technology exclusively.
Older liquid phase storage systems store cord blood directly in liquid nitrogen. Due to the extremely low "cryogenic" temperatures, cracks often develop in the containers holding the cord blood. In liquid phase storage, the real possibility exists that your child's cord blood can be exposed to cord blood from another child. Since thousands of cord blood samples from different children are stored in a full tank, the possibility of infected (e.g. CMV, HIV, and especially untested diseases) blood contaminating your child's blood is a real risk. Some laboratories seek to mitigate this risk by "double-bagging" their cord blood, but even so, there is no guarantee. Since vapor phase storage reduces the possibility of sample cross-contamination due to liquid-mediate transfer of infectious agents, some laboratories store samples in the vapour phase in tanks designed for liquid storage. Since such tanks are not designed for vapour phase use, samples stored in such tanks are subject to extreme temperature variations that can affect cell viability. Other laboratories have attempted to use electrically cooled tanks. However, the danger of a prolonged power outage can put such freezers at extreme risk, and furthermore, many electrically cooled tanks cannot achieve the same low temperatures of nitrogen storage. Next generation tanks however designed specifically for vapour storage allow samples to be stored in the vapour phase while achieving the low temperatures of liquid nitrogen. Healthcord is one of the first facilities in Canada to rely solely upon vapour phase storage.
