Media Release
Manipal, Sep 17: The Bone Bank was inaugurated by Dr Ranjan R Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group, at Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, MAHE, Manipal. This initiative is a part of the Manipal Foundation. Harinarayan Sharma, CEO of Manipal Foundation, Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh, vice chancellor of MAHE, Manipal, and Dr Sharath Kumar Rao, pro vice-chancellor (Health Sciences) of MAHE, Manipal, were the guests of honour for the program. Dr H S Ballal, pro chancellor of MAHE, Manipal, presided over the program.
Dr Ranjan Pai congratulated Kasturba Hospital and College on the inauguration of the Bone Bank and wished for its success.
On this occasion, Dr Harinarayan Sharma expressed that the Bone Bank is the first of its kind in the Manipal network of hospitals, as well as in northern coastal Karnataka, which will be beneficial for patients.
Dr M D Venkatesh mentioned that bone bank allografts are more cost-effective and superior to the commercially available alternatives, despite the cost incurred in processing/radiation-sterilization of the donor bone (to be borne by the recipient).
Dr H S Ballal, pro chancellor of MAHE, Manipal, in his presidential address, asserted that Manipal has always been at the forefront of introducing new facilities and new technologies, emphasizing the need and importance of a bone bank nowadays.
Dr Sharath K Rao congratulated all those who worked hard to start a bone bank and commented that the facilities available in big cities are now available in Manipal as well.
In his detailed overview, Dr Monappa Naik Aroor, professor of orthopedics and convener of the Bone Bank, shared that massive bone grafts are needed to manage large bone defects in tumor resection (especially in younger children where autografts are not a valid choice to reconstruct larger defects), gap non-union of fractured bones, and defect management of joint reconstruction/revision surgeries. Allografts constitute the tissue transplants within members of the same species who are genetically non-identical (human to human). The source of bone is from potential living or deceased healthy voluntary donors. Bone parts resected during joint replacement (arthroplasty) procedures and in selected amputations are the main sources of living donors (otherwise, these are discarded as bio-waste). All these donated bones undergo a series of processing (to make them free from blood, fat, contamination, and micro-organisms) to make them safe and infection-free for usage (upcycling). The bone bank consists of wet and dry processing areas apart from the documentation/receiving area, deep freezer room, and storage/distribution area. After processing of the donor bone (dissection, cutting, washing, pasteurization, freeze-drying, packing, labeling, and sealing), ensuring the high quality and safety (moisture-free and low bioburden), the material should be end-sterilized with Gamma radiation. With all these procedures (procuring, curing, storing, distributing), the bone bank will be the source for upcycled bone tissue as allografts (freeze-dried Gamma irradiated end product) for the needful massive grafts in Orthopedic reconstructive surgeries. Bone bank allografts will solve the issues of size/amount of graft needed.
Dr Avinash Shetty, medical superintendent, Kasturba Hospital informed that once the licensing for this project is completed, the products will be available for therapeutic purposes.
Shruthi R Pai, Dr Giridhar Kini, Registrar, MAHE Manipal, Sr C G Muthana, COO, MAHE Manipal, Dr Anand Venugopal, COO, Teaching Hospital, MAHE Manipal, and all associate deans, and Dr Shyamasunder Bhat N, professor and head of the department of orthopedics were present.