Do you need custom animal tissue procurement or processing for product development, pre-clinical trials, or a biotechnology, medical device, or academic R&D project?
Sourcing tissue from a professional tissue bank is essential when the tissue needs to be consistent and of clinical quality. Investing in quality products in the initial project design phase can prevent costly rework in later phases of your project.
VTS is Here to Help
We are a professional tissue bank with experience in procuring, processing and testing tissues for implantation.
Our Quality Systems are modeled after those of AATB-accredited human tissue banks and place our animal tissue products at the same clinical-quality level as human tissue products.
Service Options
We understand that every research or pre-clinical trial project is unique and we pride ourselves on our ability to customize tissue recovery, processing, and packaging methodologies precisely according to your research protocols and needs. Call us to discuss your tissue needs.
Here are some of the most common customization options:
Production and Preservation Options
- Demineralization
- Guanidine-extracted controls
- Freeze-drying
- Specific particle size sieving
- Ultra-cold freezing
- Snap freezing
- Liquid nitrogen storage
- Irradiation
- Cryopreservation
Assessment Options
- Residual moisture determination
- Residual calcium assay
- Viability (AO/PI fluorescence microscopy)
- Microbiologic assessment
- Osteoinductivity assessment
Packaging Options
- Bulk packaging
- Individual unit dose packaging by weight or volume
- Capsules, vials, syringes, packets, pouches, etc.
- Triple peel packaging for aseptic delivery onto a sterile field
Storage and Shipping Options
- Monitored, ultra-cold freezers (-70°C)
- Liquid nitrogen storage tanks (colder than -100°C)
- Nitrogen dry shipper, qualified for shipment of ultra-cold samples
Why Use VTS Services:
- You are first priority: Animal tissue is all we do here at VTS, which means your animal tissue project will be first priority to us.
- Processed to tissue banking standards
- Clinical-quality backed by established and validated SOPs and other Quality System elements
- Consistent tissue product characteristics within and across production batches
- Sterility assured, if needed
- Osteoinductivity assured, if needed
- Guaranteed to have other desired attributes as needed such as certain structural features and more
- Allograft, not xenograft: Using same-species-tissue in your research and clinical trials eliminates variables and uncertainties associated with using cross-species tissue.
- No trial and error. Professional tissue banking experience contributes to consistent and reliable results.
- Documentation: We provide Certificates of Compliance and traceability documentation for all products and can provide additional detailed documentation upon request.
- On time and on budget: Avoid re-scheduling and re-budgeting headaches. We know in advance how long a tissue procurement and processing project takes and we deliver on time and on budget.
Common Applications
While our customers use tissues provided by us in a wide variety of ways, here are some of the most common types of applications:
- Pre-clinical trial or biocompatibility testing for orthopedic implants: To achieve faster integration and to minimize failure risks, many orthopedic implants are used clinically in conjunction with bone allograft tissue. To simulate allograft surgeries most closely, implant manufacturers also need to use allograft in their animal models when testing the performance and biocompatibility of a new implant. Just like skipping the use of allograft in clinical surgery could put a successful surgery outcome at risk, skipping the use of allograft in implant testing or preclinical trialing (or using allograft that was not processed according to protocols that will be used by the tissue bank in the final product) could greatly diminish the chances for an optimal outcome and jeopardize demonstration of the full potential of the implant under study.
- Use as control in comparison studies: Developers of synthetic scaffolds or new biological products often want to compare their product’s performance with that of traditional allograft. To achieve a clinically valid comparison the animal allograft needs to be of the same clinical quality as human allograft available from human tissue banks.
- Bench work: While for bench work studies, the tissue often does not need to be sterile, consistent tissue product characteristics within and across production batches remain critical.
- Many others: We provide a wide variety of tissues for a wide variety of applications. Please see Service Options above or contact us directly.
Case Study
Brochure
Clinical References
A selection of references in which tissue grafts from VTS have been used:
- Hoffer M, Griffon D, Schaeffer D, Johnson A, Thomas M. Clinical applications of demineralized bone matrix: A retrospective and case-matched study of 75 dogs. Vet Surg. 37:639-647, 2008.
- Lafaver S, Miller NA, Stubbs WP, Taylor RA, Boudrieau RJ. Tibial tuberosity advancement for stabilization of the canine cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifle joint: surgical technique, early results, and complications in 101 dogs. Veterinary Surgery. 36:573-586, 2007.
- Bergman R, Levine J, Coates J, Bahr A, Hettlich B, Kerwin S. Cervical Spinal Locking Plate in Combination with Cortical Ring Allograft for a One Level Fusion in Dogs with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. Veterinary Surgery. 37:530—536, 2008.
- Lidbetter DA, Millis DL, Daniel GB, Stapleton J. The effects of demineralized bone matrix and cancellous bone graft on an unstable ostectomy model in dogs. Veterinary Orthopedic Society, 2003.
- Lindsey R, Gugala Z, Milne E, Sun M, Gannon F, Latta L. The Efficacy of Cylindrical Titanium Mesh Cage for the Reconstruction of a Critical-Size Canine Segmental Femoral Diaphyseal Defect. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jor.20154, 2005.