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. 2013;1(1):e128.

25 YEARS OF THE RICORDI AUTOMATED METHOD FOR ISLET ISOLATION

Lorenzo Piemonti  1 , Antonello Pileggi  2   3   4   5
Affiliations

25 YEARS OF THE RICORDI AUTOMATED METHOD FOR ISLET ISOLATION

Lorenzo Piemonti et al. CellR4 Repair Replace Regen Reprogram. 2013.

Abstract

The year 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the Automated Method for islet isolation. The dissociation chamber at the core of the Automated Method was developed by Dr. Camillo Ricordi in 1988 to enhance the disassembling of the pancreatic tissue via a combined enzymatic and mechanical digestion while preserving endocrine cell cluster integrity. This method has ever since become the gold standard for human and large animal pancreas processing, contributing to the success and increasing number of clinical trials of islet transplantation worldwide. Herein we offer an attempt to a comprehensive, yet unavoidably incomplete, historical review of the progress in the field of islet cell transplantation to restore beta-cell function in patients with diabetes.

Keywords: Automated method; Diabetes; History; Islet transplantation; Pancreatic islets.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The headings of the manuscript describing the Automated Method and a picture of Dr. Ricordi with one of the first human pancreas shipments from NDRI that was processed in Saint Luis.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
One of the initial prototypes of the stainless steel Dissociation Chamber and Dr. Ricordi’s Laboratory Notebook describing the concept and drafts of the Automated Method for islet isolation. Photo by L. Piemonti (Milan, 3rd March 2013).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Timeline of pancreatic islet transplantation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Alessandri R Innesti di tessuti viventi adulti ed embrionali in alcuni organi del corpo. Policlinico. 1896;III-C:253–271.

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