Bone marrow is often used in orthodpaedic procedures to augment fracture healing. It is also an excellent source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC's) and/or tissue progenitor cells (TPC's). These multi-potent cells have broad applications in addition to orthopaedics and may be used in the fields of cardiology, oncology and other areas. As new techniques are being developed to use these cells and to culture them ex-vivo it has become increasingly important to be able to procure large volumes of highly cellular marrow from the body.
At present, the pelvis is the source for almost all of the marrow that is used for mesenchymal stem cells. Obtaining marrow from the pelvis, however, can be difficult and may present risks to the abdominal cavity, especially when obesity obscures normal landmarks. Additionally, patients undergoing lower extremity procedures such as ankle or tibia fractures often do not have the pelvis readily accessible for sterile bone marrow access.
A further problem is that the aspiration of more than approximately two to four cubic centimeters of marrow in one area has been shown to result in the subsequent withdrawal of local “venous blood” as opposed to marrow and therefore significantly decreases the MSC/TPC count. This requires the frequent removal and redirection of the needle and can further include the creation of one or more additional points of access into the bone in order to avoid overlapping areas that have already been “tapped out” of marrow. Further, each additional point of access into the bone creates additional risks to the abdominal cavity.
An apparatus is needed for the harvesting of marrow from a bone that can be fixed relative to a bony landmark and guide multiple needles through that single penetration in the bone to harvest an increased volume of marrow.