Tissue Bank in Indonesia: Opportunities & Challenges

What is Tissue Bank?

A tissue bank is an establishment that collects and recovers human cadaver tissue for the purposes of medical research, education and allograft transplantation. A tissue bank may also refer to a location where biomedical tissue is stored under cryogenic conditions and is generally used in a more clinical sense.

Tissue Bank is a non-profit charitable institution/organization, which aims to collect, process, preserve, store, sterilize and distribute biological tissues and cells for clinical purposes in the treatment of human diseases. The world’s first tissue bank was founded by Dr George Hyatt in 1949 in America, famously known as the US Naval Tissue Bank. It later expanded to Europe and the rest of the world. In Asia-Pacific, tissue banks started in Burma in 1980 and Thailand in 1984. This was followed by other Asia Pacific countries. In Indonesia, it was officially opened in early 1990 with three tissue bank centers in Batan Jakarta, Sutomo Hospital Surabaya and DR M Jamil Hospital Padang.

 

History of Tissue Bank in Indonesia

In 1986, the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) in Jakarta began research and development to establish a tissue bank (Batan Research Tissue Bank/BRTB). The bank preserves fresh amnion or fetal membranes by lyophilization, a process that removes water from the tissue, and then sterilizes it with gamma irradiation. The BRTB focuses on the production of amnion, bone, and soft tissue allografts, as well as bone xenografts.

Before tissue can be used in humans, it must be free of infectious diseases. This is done by a series of processes that kill bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. The BRTB uses these processes to ensure that the tissue it provides is safe for use in patients.

 

Image 1. Type of Graft Produced in Indonesian Tissue Bank (source: Cell Tissue Bank)

 

Current tissue bank condition in Indonesia

According to interview from Kompas.com, with the head of the tissue bank at RSUP M. Djamil Padang, Menkher Manjas Ph.D., revealed that the lack of regulations and standards for tissue banks in Indonesia has led to the underutilization of tissue cells.

Stem cells and tissue cells are currently the mainstream in the world for the use of tissue banks for medical purposes. However, in Indonesia, only the tissue bank at Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya is trying to use stem cells for these purposes. The use of stem cells abroad is already very advanced, Menkher said.

According to Hilmy, there are only three tissue banks in Indonesia, located in Padang, Jakarta, and Surabaya. Domestic production of tissue cells is still limited, meeting only 1,000 out of 3,000 units of tissue cell demand in 2016. This has opened up opportunities for foreign suppliers.

 

Tissue bank challenge in Indonesia

The lack of tissue donors for allograft production is still a significant problem for tissue banks in Indonesia. Because of these limitations, doctors and experts choose other options and methods that do not require allografts. Local tissue banks have not been able to meet the demand from hospitals.

Tissue banks in Indonesia are still in their early stages of development, but they are growing rapidly. Demand for tissue allografts is increasing, as more hospitals and surgeons realize the benefits of tissue banks.

The future of tissue banking in Indonesia is bright. With continued support from the government and the medical community, the tissue banks in Indonesia will be able to meet the growing demand for tissue allografts and provide safe and effective treatment options for patients in need.

 

Conclusion

The development of tissue banking in Indonesia is facing challenges, such as lack of regulations, limited production, and donor shortage. However, with government support, tissue banking can overcome these challenges and provide safe treatment for patients.

 

 

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Yoga Sutrisno / PJT & Marketing Support

 

 

Sources :

Ferdiansyah. 2006. Use of freeze-dried irradiated bones in orthopedic surgery in radiation. In: Nather A, Yusof N, Hilmy N (eds) Tissue banking. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 317–326

Hilmy N, Pandansari P, Ibrahim GS, Indira S, Bambang S, Sunarti R, Herawati S. 2006. Use of freeze-dried irradiated amnion in ophthalmologic practices. In: Nather A, Yusof N, Hilmy N (eds) Radiation in tissue banking. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 355–364

Hilmy N, Paramita P. 2006. New emerging infectious diseases caused by viruses. In: Nather A,Yusof N, Hilmy N (eds) Radiation in Tissue Banking. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 133–146

Hilmy N, Febrida A, Basril A. 2007. Experiences using IAEA code for tissue allografts. J Rad Physc Chem 76:1751–1755

Manjas M, Tarusaraya P, Hilmy N. 2006. The use of irradiated amnion grafts in wound dressing. In: Nather A, Yusof N, Hilmy N (eds) Tissue Banking. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 329–342

Narayan, R. P. 2012. “Development of tissue bank”. Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery. 45 (2): 396–402. doi:10.4103/0970-0358.101326. PMC 3495391. PMID 23162240.

Andriyani, Titik. 2009. Nazly Hilmy PhD, Pelopor Berdirinya Bank Jaringan di Indonesia. JPNN. https://m.jpnn.com/news/nazly-hilmy-phd-pelopor-berdirinya-bank-jaringan-di-indonesia , accessed on 28 August 2023

Chandar, Asep. 2010. Perkembangan “Tissue Bank” Temui Hambatan. Kompas. https://lifestyle.kompas.com/read/2010/10/12/07434192/function-simplexml-load-file, accessed on 28 August 2023