East Tallinn Central Hospital to open Estonia’s first intrahospital tissue bank

East Tallinn Central Hospital is set to open a tissue bank within its walls to acquire, process, store and facilitate the future transplantation of tissues. This will be the first tissue bank of its kind in Estonia.



“The tissue bank will benefit a number of patients with fractures and spinal surgery in the event that donor bone is required. This includes eye clinic patients in need of amnionic membrane to repair damaged surface tissues in the eye, reduce superficial inflammation and promote healing,” says Head of East Tallinn Central Hospital’s tissue bank Marge Martjak.

There are also plans to work with ophthalmologists to produce special serum-based eye drops to treat dry eyes and other ailments related to the surface of the eye where other treatments fail.

The conditions created in the tissue bank allow other tissue handling areas to be included in the services provided by East Tallinn Central Hospital. “We are relying on cooperation with doctors and specialists and welcome proposals on how we might be able to assist patients in other areas, for example, amnionic membrane can be used to treat diabetic wounds,” adds Martjak.

Centre of excellence established under European quality system

“East Tallinn Central Hospital’s tissue bank was created to consolidate existing capabilities, such as the handling of cornea, amnionic membrane and bone tissue, into facilities that comply with European best practices and to employ a tissue bank model used in a number of other European countries where different tissues are handled pursuant to a common quality system,” says Marge Martjak.

According to Martjak, the new facilities have automated monitoring of all critical parameters such as temperature, humidity levels, pressures and particles in biosafety cabinets.  “All of our storage devices use the same monitoring system,” Martjak points out. “The system immediately alerts us if any critical parameter is out of limits. This way, we can react quickly and deal with the problem.”

The tissue bank was established as a separate unit and an internal centre of excellence within East Tallinn Central Hospital in April 2022. Its main partners include the Eye Clinic, Orthopaedic Centre, Centre of Spinal Surgery and Women’s Clinic of East Tallinn Central Hospital. SA Tartu Ülikooli Kliinikum (Tartu University Hospital) is the tissue bank’s primary external partner.