Tissue processing

Tissues are not immediately transplanted. This is a big difference to organ donation. After the removal of the eyes, heart valves, blood vessels or bones, these are transferred to tissue banks.

Tissue facilities require a permit from the competent state authority for the donation, removal and medical examination of tissues (§ 20b AMG) as well as for its processing, transport, preservation, storage and distribution (§ 20c AMG).

The tissue bank is usually inspected every two years. In addition, tissue banks require a licence from the higher federal authority (§ 21a AMG) in order to place tissue preparations on the market. The permission is granted by the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines, the Paul Ehrlich Institute. This strict regulation protects the quality and safety of tissue donations and thus the recipient of the transplant. Every tissue donation is fully documented and traceable from consent to processing and transplantation.