Freeze-Dried or Lyophilized Tissue
Freeze-dried tissues do not require any form of temperature maintenance during transport and can be stored without refrigeration or freezing for a period of up to five years. While the recommended storage temperature for this type of allograft is generally between 15ºC and 30ºC, the most important consideration is package integrity. Graft packaging should be checked at the time of receipt to ensure all seals are intact and that no damage to the packaging materials has occurred. HealthLink inspects all product received at our facility.
Refrigerated Tissue
Tissue that requires refrigeration should not be frozen, nor should it reach temperatures outside the range of 1ºC to 10ºC for storage. The shelf life of refrigerated tissue is specific to each graft type and should be reviewed by examining the individual package label for the graft expiration date. Graft packaging should be checked at the time of receipt to ensure all seals are intact and that no damage to the packaging materials has occurred.
Frozen or Cryopreserved Tissue
Frozen tissue and nerve is aseptically processed and then frozen to -80ºC for storage and distribution. Tissue should be maintained in the range of -80ºC to -40ºC, but can be stored above -40ºC and below -20ºC for a period of six months. Graft packaging should be checked at the time of receipt to ensure all the seals are intact and that no damage to the packaging materials has occurred.
For more information about HealthLink’s cold storage offerings click here.
Shipping Containers
Specific shipping containers can be sourced based on the transporting requirements. Each of the containers used for transporting tissue have been validated for temperature control and durability. The validations include calculation of sublimation rates, which are used to determine the expiration time of the transport container based on the amount of dry ice or gel packs placed in the container. These transport expiration times are posted on the shipping label on the outside of the container.
HealthLink has the ability to include a temperature logger within each shipment to view the temperature excursions during transportation from our facility to the end destination. Our experience with cold chain shipments and understanding of the tissue handling requirements has allowed us to support multiple types of products.
