If a cord blood unit is selected for consideration as a match for a patient planning a transplant, a small segment attached to the unit is removed from the freezer. The segment is then tested to confirm the identity of the unit and to be sure that the frozen cells retain potency – the ability to engraft in a patient undergoing transplantation.

If the segment passes these tests and if the transplant center requests the unit for transplant, the frozen unit is shipped to the transplant center in a specialized container called a dry shipper. On the day of transplant, the unit is thawed at the transplant center and administered to the patient in need.