Reminder: The following procedures have not been approved by Ministry of Health and Welfare. The relevant instructions are for reference only. Please wait for the official announcement from Ministry of Health and Welfare and Tzu Chi Hospital, Hualien.
Medical treatment and process
1. Consultation via email or phone-call
We may reach you via email or phone-call, which is a free service. Please note that the response will be handled by the case manager rather than a medical doctor, who works in Tzu-Chi Stem Cell and Precision Medical Research and Development Center.
0933-263-800 (case manager) Business hours 9:00~17:00 (Saturday and Sunday off)
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2. Making an appointment at the consultation clinic
Only online appointments or those made via phone-call are accepted. Depending on certain circumstances, we may request you to send your previous medical records and reports to the hospital.
Online appointment consultation
3. Outpatient clinic
You will first listen to the doctor's advice and explanation about the treatment in detail. Next, our staff will elaborate the entire treatment process accordingly.
4. Screening to check if you qualify for treatment after confirming your intention to receive
treatment
If you are willing to receive the treatment after acquiring comprehensive information we provide, we would conduct a series of medical tests with your agreement to determine if your physical condition is feasible for such treatment.
First, the qualification check may exclude those patients with the following infectious diseases, i.e. hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, HTLV-1, etc. Depending on the type of cell therapy you may need, different tests. eg. tumor markers, MRI, etc., may be applied.
All test results will be completed within 10 working days and we will reach you once the results are ready.
5. Confirming the sampling date
Once the eligibility has been confirmed, we will reach you to arrange the time for sample collection
6. Sample collection
Blood sampling:
Two weeks prior to autologous immune cells therapy, 35~40 ml of peripheral blood will be drawn. During blood drawing, please be relaxed. Stressful-mind may cause blood vessel constriction and make blood drawing difficult. Dizziness may happen in over-tense condition. Please notify our nurse in some special situation, such as history of allergy to topical alcohol, Port-A implanted, use of anticoagulant, prone to fainting after seeing needles, and so on. After completion of blood drawing, please compress puncture area efficiently up to 5~10 minutes. Ecchymosis and hematoma may happen if improperly puncture site compressed. Once hematoma occurs, to have ice-packed first within 24 hours, followed by warm-packed in the next 24 hours. For other complication like dizziness, lying down is necessary and proper medical care will be provided.
Bone marrow aspiration:
In the preparation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, it is necessary to obtain bone marrow of 10±5ml. Under proper anesthesia, bone marrow will be aspirated from posterior iliac crest. After completion of bone marrow aspiration, you will be recommended to be lying flat and take a rest about 1 hour and for hemostasis. Minor wound pain is common and can be well controlled by proper medication.
Liposuction :
The fat collection operation takes about one hour, and the source of adipocytes are usually taken from the subcutaneous fat tissues of the abdomen. Under highly safe local anesthesia, estimated 5 to 10 grams of adipose tissues may be collected. Approximately 20 mL of blood will be collected for cell culture or cryopreservation. The patient may go home without admission; the wound will be kept clean and dry, and covered with a cosmetic tape after the liposuction.
After the operation, it is recommended to apply an ice-pack on the wound for 3 days, 4 times a day, for 5 to 10 minutes each time, to alleviate wound swelling and pain relief.
After the swelling improves, the patient may utilize warm packs applied to the wound to diminish the bruising. Patients may shower 3 days after liposuction. After a week of the operation, you may take a bath and massage the operated area. Patients may resume daily activities in 1 week and avoid strenuous exercise within 1 month. After the liposuction, another outpatient clinic visit may be scheduled by your doctor to remove the stiches over the wound. Diagnosis. If extensive bleeding, severe pain or physical discomfort happen after the operation, please consult the doctor as soon as possible.
7. Cell culture
In terms of the specimens collected from patients, they would be cultured in a laboratory at the Gene and Stem cell Research Center of Tzu Chi Hospital, or in the manufactured sites commissioned by Ministry of Health and Welfare.
There are differences in cell growth speed; in general, we may amplify the number of cells to the amount needed for the aimed treatment in about 4 to 6 weeks. Before the cell preparations are released, we will conduct medical analysis to ensure the safety for its application to patients.
8. Determine the date of the operation
Once the cell preparation is ready, we will contact you and schedule a bespoke timetable for your treatment and return visit.
9. Cell transfusion
If you are receiving immune cell therapy, we will arrange for you to stay in the hospital for 1 night to observe adverse reaction incurred in case. The infusion takes 1 hour.
If you are receiving treatment for a stroke or spinal cord injury, you will be hospitalized for several days (usually 5-7 days). In addition to observing
any adverse reactions, some postoperative examinations will be performed. The overall infusion time may take 2 to 5 hours.
If you are receiving soft tissue filling or degenerative arthritis treatment, you may be discharged after a few hours of observation after surgery. The overall infusion time may take from 20 minutes to 2 hours.
10. Postoperative rehabilitation (brain stroke or spinal cord injury)
For patients with a stroke and spinal cord injury, rehabilitation would be conducted several weeks after the cell infusion. We believe that maximized therapeutic benefits of stem cell therapy would be achieved if a rehabilitation program is applied.
11. Postoperative follow-up
In order to fully observe the effects of the treatment, the return visits and examination are critical, which may take several weeks to one year. Please be sure to cooperate with the return plan.