The femoral head is surgically removed under sterilized conditions. The ligament and synovial tissue are cultured on aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. In order to exclude malignancies, auto-immune processes, or infections, a biopsy of 1 cm 3 corticospongious bone and ligament is collected for histopathological examination. After determining its size, the femoral head is wrapped in a sterile plastic bag and in three layers parcelled in sterile packing material, labelled and stored in the freezer within 30 min. The freezer has a temperature of -80°C, and has a continuous temperature registration device installed. Should the temperature fall outside the acceptable range of -90 and -70°C, an alarm system gives off a warning signal to the Technical Service, guaranteeing a 24-h security against temperature-induced damage to the tissue. A nitrogen tank is fitted onto the freezer, as a backup cooling mechanism in case of mechanical breakdown of the freezer. In deep frozen condition, the allogenic bone tissue can be preserved for a maximum of 5 years. The temperature data is stored and managed by the bone bank administrator for a period of at least 5 years.