Implants for replacing hyaline cartilage, with hydrogel reinforced by three-dimensional fiber arrays
First Claim
1. An article of manufacture designed, sized, and suited for surgical implantation into a mammalian joint to replace hyaline cartilage, comprising a polymeric hydrogel material reinforced by a three-dimensional fiber array embedded within at least a portion of said polymeric hydrogel material.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Implants with hydrogel layers reinforced by three-dimensional fiber arrays can replace hyaline cartilage. Such implants should replace an entire cartilage segment, rather than creating a crevice around a plug, so these implants must be thin and flat, they must cover large areas, the tips of any tufts or stitches must not reach the hydrogel surface, and they must be flexible, for arthroscopic insertion. The use of computerized stitching machines to create such arrays enables a redesigned and modified test sample to be made with no delays, and no overhead or startup costs. This provides researchers with improved tools for making and testing implants that will need to go through extensive in vitro, animal, and human testing before they can be approved for sale and use. Fiber-reinforced hydrogels also can be secured to strong shape-memory rims, for securing anchoring to bones.
-
Citations
16 Claims
- 1. An article of manufacture designed, sized, and suited for surgical implantation into a mammalian joint to replace hyaline cartilage, comprising a polymeric hydrogel material reinforced by a three-dimensional fiber array embedded within at least a portion of said polymeric hydrogel material.
-
12. A method for making a reinforced hydrogel implant component having dimensions suited for replacing hyaline cartilage in a mammalian joint, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) using stitching to affix tufted or sewn stitches to a backing layer, in a manner that will create a three-dimensional fiber array having a thickness suited for a reinforcing layer in an implant for replacing hyaline cartilage; and
,(b) contacting said three-dimensional fiber array with a prepolymer liquid that will permeate into the three-dimensional fiber array and then polymerize to form a gelatinous solid that is affixed to and reinforced by said three-dimensional fiber array. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification