DHAKA: Body remains after accidents were considered as ‘clinical wastes’ so long and those organs were thrown into the waste disposing grounds. But days have changed, those body remains are now being used in making bone tissue.
At present, the tissues are used in the treatment of eye, orthopedics or burn injury cases. So the human organs are no longer being wasted. People are getting back their lives through implanting tissues.
The abandoned tissue’s portions are being collected from 128 hospitals of the country and about 350 doctors are involved in this process.
In the Rana Plaza building collapse tragedy, many unfortunates had to lose hands and legs. Many of those, moreover at doctor’s advice, had to amputate their organs.
Banglanews looked deeper into the usage of those body remains and found that those organs, collected from hundred more hospitals, have been sent to the Tissue Banking and Biomaterial Research Unit (TBBRU) of Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE).
Established in 1985, the AERE, which is located at Savar, outskirt of capital Dhaka, is a major research set-up of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) for peaceful application of nuclear energy in various fields of physical, biological and engineering sciences.
At TBBRU, it was found that different types of chips are being made from those rejected bones of hands and legs; human tissues are also being processed there.
The newly processed chips are being sterilized through radiation and maintaining quality and being sent to different hospitals for implantation through surgical operation.
TBBRU director Dr. SM Asaduzzaman told banglanews, “After sterilizing the chip by Gama ray, many people can get back into the new life through grafting in human body.”
“Particularly the patients, who suffer from burn injury, orthopedics and ophthalmologic problem, get positive results,” added Asaduzzaman.
Road crash and fire incidents are commons causes of causalities across the country. People who become victims of such incidents turned out to be incapable and unfit for work – an important socio-economic perspective of the country. Misfortune falls on the victims’ family.
“From these points of view to make a person workable is very important” said Dr Asaduzzaman.
TBBRU’s main object is to use the abandoned or rejected human organs in surgery and rehabilitation treatment through scientific processing and sterilizing.
Dr. Asaduzzaman told, “We supply the bone tissue at a minimum price though huge money is spent for research and technology.”
“If some basic problems were removed, then this life saving facility would be reached at marginal level,” the director hoped.
TBBRU, meanwhile, grafted a total of 599 amnion membranes, 421 bone collections and 2289 amnions and 4041 bones,
It supplied 1183 amnions, 2977 bones, 84 eye grafting and 8 vials DVM granules to several hospitals and clinics after processing. 
Asaduzzaman said, “155 burn injury patients, 22 eye patients, 162 orthopedic patients and 7 dental patients were treated and rehabilitated.”
But TBBRU earned only Taka 1 core 71 lakhs and 870 for its service, which has more than several crores value.
The institute has taken up a program titled ‘Mammalian Cell Culture’ for updating and widening the on going research work, he informed.
Dr. Asaduzzaman said, “Government is committed to use nuclear power for the peaceful purposes by signing the ‘Non-proliferation pact’.”
“With this object, the Commission is working for rendering services to the ailing humanity,” said the doctor adding, “The institute is serving people with huge investment thus saving foreign currency for human cause.”
He further said, “There was a time when our physicians could not understand the tissue grafting treatment, we had to arrange meetings and seminars to raise awareness on these treatment.”
“At present, about 350 physicians are collecting abandoned human hands and legs at 128 hospitals across the country; for this reason, the number of service receivers is increasing day by day,” added Asaduzzaman.
BDST: 1918 HRS, JUN 28, 2014
