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Updated: Jan 20, 2026
Brain Banking: Making the Most of your Research Specimens
Published on: July 24, 2009
[Analysis of the effectiveness of an internal hospital bone bank]
1Orthopädische Universitätsklinik, Universitäts- und Rehabilitationsklinikum (RKU), Oberer Eselsberg 45, 89081 Ulm. Markus.Floeren@uni-ulm.de
Insights
Maintaining an internal hospital bone bank is cost-effective for supplying allogenic bone substitutes under EU guidelines. Optimizing processes can further enhance efficiency and reduce discarded donations.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Transplantation Medicine
- Biomaterials Science
Context:
- EU directives 2004/23/EG and 2006/17/EG impact allogenic bone banking.
- Internal hospital bone banks require analysis for compliance and cost-effectiveness.
- Alternative bone grafting methods present a benchmark for comparison.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an established internal hospital bone bank.
- To assess the suitability of fresh-frozen allogenic bone banking under new EU regulations.
- To identify areas for process improvement in bone banking operations.
Summary:
- An internal hospital bone bank successfully meets its demand for bone substitutes.
- Maintenance costs for the bone bank are lower than alternative methods.
- A small percentage (8%) of donations are discarded due to procedural errors.
Impact:
- Internal hospital bone banks are an efficient and cost-effective solution for bone substitutes.
- Compliance with EU guidelines (Section 13 AMG) is achievable with optimized processes.
- Harmonizing organizational processes can significantly improve bone bank effectiveness.
Background:
The EU guidelines 2004/23/EG and 2006/17/EG and their national implementation redefine the framework for allogenic bone banking and transplantation. Against this background an established internal hospital bone bank was analysed concerning threshold of allogenic bone and cost effectiveness in comparison to alternative methods.
Method:
Over a 30-month period we registered all arrivals and outgoings of our bone bank and their destination. We further noted all declined donations. We analysed all costs incurred and calculated costs for alternative methods.
Results:
By means of our bone bank we are currently able to meet our own demand for bone substitutes. The maintenance costs are below the prices of alternative methods. Some donations (8%) have to be discarded due to procedural errors.
Conclusion:
Maintaining an internal hospital bone bank utilizing fresh-frozen allogenic bone is an efficient and cost-effective method of supplying bone substitutes even under the new EU guidelines if the existing process covers most conditions of the producer authorisation according to section sign 13 AMG. By harmonizing the organizational process it is possible to further improve its effectiveness.
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