A Tissue Bank, as used in this article, is a term most commonly used to describe an establishment that collects and harvests human cadaver tissue for the purposes of medical research and education.

A Tissue bank may also refer to a location where biomedical tissue

Biomedical tissue

Biomedical tissue is biological tissue used for organ transplantation and medical research, particularly cancer research.Such tissues and organs may be referred to as: implant tissue, allograft, xenograft, skin graft tissue, human transplant tissue, implant bone. Tissue is stored in tissue...

 is stored under cryogenic conditions, and is generally used in a more clinical sense.

Willed Body Donation

Most U.S. Tissue bank companies get their supply of cadaver tissue through Willed Body Donation

Body donation

Body donation is the donation of the whole body after death for medical research and education. For years, only medical schools accepted whole bodies for donation, but now private programs also accept donors....

 programs run by the Tissue bank itself. They then charge their customers (mainly medical instrument companies) for services associated with preparation of the cadaver tissue (i.e. - transportation, refrigeration, harvesting, etc.) rather than charging money for the donated tissue itself, which is illegal.

The American Association of Tissue Banks

American Association of Tissue Banks

The American Association of Tissue Banks ; a transplant trade organization that is dedicated to ensuring that human tissues intended for transplantation are safe and free of infectious disease, of uniform high quality, and available in quantities sufficient to meet national needs.The AATB provides...

(AATB) is the most recognized accrediting body for American Tissue Banks.

• Many universities across the U.S. also offer tissue to surgical training facilities meant for medical research and education on cadaveric specimens. Most universities obtain this tissue through their own whole body donation programs.