Collecting Stem Cells
Stem cells can be collected from the patient’s own body (autologous) or from a donor (allogenic). Several days before a collection, your doctor will give you grow factors, which stimulate the body to produce more stem cells in the blood. Basic steps to collect stem cells may include:
– Remove blood from the body through a vein in your arm
– A special machine is used to separate stem cells from the blood
– Filtered blood is injected back to the body
– The collected cells are frozen until the transplant
The whole procedure may last 3 to 4 hours.[6]
