Patent ID: 7045349

Claim:
A method for isolating islets from a portion of a pancreas, comprising: introducing the portion of a pancreas to an islet processing solution that contains a digestive enzyme and that is characterized by a plurality of process control variables; circulating said islet processing solution around and through the portion of a pancreas and past a plurality of sensors, said plurality of sensors being exposed to said islet processing solution having an output that characterizes a state of one of the process control variables; controlling said plurality of process control variables of the islet processing solution during islet isolation with a process controller that is in communication with said plurality of sensors, said process controller having a process control interface and being capable of changing the state of said plurality of process control variables, wherein said plurality of process control variables include a temperature, a flowrate, a pH, a dissolved oxygen concentration, a dissolved nitric oxide concentration, an antibiotic concentration and an endotoxin concentration; separating the islets from the portion of pancreas; and collecting the separated islets.