Non-woven scaffold for tissue engineering
First Claim
1. A method of making at least a portion of a shape for receiving one or more living cells, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a piece of starting material including a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion;
covering the first portion with the second portion, neither the first portion nor the second portion covering the third portion, the third portion not covering either the first portion or the second portion;
needling at least the first and second portions to attach at least the first and second portions to each other to create a three dimensional shape that defines an interior space; and
refraining from needling at least a portion of the third portion.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Scaffolds for tissue engineering, and methods and systems for manufacturing the same. The starting material used to manufacture the scaffolds may include a needled non-woven sheet, or a batt of fibers. In either case, the starting material includes a bioabsorbable polymer, such as polyglycolic acid or poly-L-lactide. This allows the scaffold to dissolve when exposed to water (e.g., when placed in the body). The starting material is needled into a three dimensional shape that is substantially seamless and then set with heat and pressure to provide substantially uniform thickness and density. This affords an improved substrate on which to place cells that will form the tissue.
-
Citations
59 Claims
-
1. A method of making at least a portion of a shape for receiving one or more living cells, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a piece of starting material including a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion;
covering the first portion with the second portion, neither the first portion nor the second portion covering the third portion, the third portion not covering either the first portion or the second portion;
needling at least the first and second portions to attach at least the first and second portions to each other to create a three dimensional shape that defines an interior space; and
refraining from needling at least a portion of the third portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of making at least a portion of a shape for receiving one or more living cells, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a plurality of pieces of starting material, each of the pieces including a first portion and a second portion;
covering the first portion of a first one of the pieces with the first portion of a second one of the pieces;
needling at least the first portions of the first and second ones of the pieces to attach at least the first portions to each other to create at least a portion of a three dimensional shape that defines an interior space; and
refraining from needling at least a portion of the second portion of at least one of the plurality of pieces. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of making at least a portion of a shape for receiving one or more living cells, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a plurality of pieces of starting material, each of the pieces including a first portion and a second portion, wherein each of the first portions includes a taper;
covering the first portion of a first one of the pieces with the first portion of a second one of the pieces, wherein a combined thickness of the first portions is substantially equal to a thickness of the second portion; and
needling at least the first portions of the first and second ones of the pieces to attach at least the first portions to each other to create at least a portion of a three dimensional shape that defines an interior space. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method of making at least a portion of a shape for receiving one or more living cells, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing at least one batt of fibers;
manipulating the at least one batt into a three dimensional structure, the three dimensional structure defining an interior space; and
needling the at least one batt to consolidate the fibers and create the three dimensional structure. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A structure for receiving one or more living cells, comprising:
-
a piece of starting material formed into a three dimensional structure defining an interior space, the piece of starting material including a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the second portion covering the first portion, neither the first portion nor the second portion covering the third portion, the third portion not covering either the first portion or the second portion;
a needled region including the first portion and the second portion and with substantially no seams; and
a non-needled region including at least a portion of the third portion. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. A structure for receiving one or more living cells, comprising:
-
a plurality of pieces of starting material formed into a three dimensional structure defining an interior space, each of the pieces including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of a first one of the pieces covering the first portion of a second one of the pieces;
a needled region including the first portions of the first and second ones of the pieces and with substantially no seams; and
a non-needled region including at least a portion of the second portion of at least one of the plurality of pieces. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
-
-
47. A structure for receiving one or more living cells, comprising:
-
a plurality of pieces of starting material formed into a three dimensional structure defining an interior space, each of the pieces including a first portion having a taper and a second portion, the first portion of a first one of the pieces covering the first portion of a second one of the pieces, wherein a combined thickness of the first portions is substantially equal to a thickness of the second portion; and
a needled region including the first portions of the first and second ones of the pieces and with substantially no seams. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
-
-
52. A system for manufacturing a shape for receiving one or more living cells, the system comprising:
-
a flexible mandrel including a plurality of support ribs for receiving at least one piece of starting material, wherein one of the support ribs defines a plurality of apertures;
a plurality of barbed needles disposed proximate to the support rib having the plurality of apertures;
at least one actuator associated with at least one of the support ribs;
means for pressing and removing the plurality of barbed needles through the at least one starting material and into the plurality of apertures; and
means for moving the at least one starting material relative to the support rib having the plurality of apertures. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
-
-
59. A method of setting at least a portion of a needled non-woven shape for receiving one or more living cells, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a mold;
heating the mold to a predetermined temperature;
providing an expandable bladder disposed within the mold and defining a gap therebetween;
placing the shape on the expandable bladder and within the gap; and
expanding the bladder to a predetermined pressure to cause the sheet to contact the mold for a predetermined period.
-
Specification