Low-swelling biocompatible hydrogels

• US 20080220047A1
• Filed: 03/05/2007
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Confluent Surgical, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Confluent Surgical, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Sawhney, Amarpreet S., Bennett, Steven L.
• Application Number:
  US11/714,028
• Publication Number:
  US 20080220047A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 424/426
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2430/38 for reconstruction of the spine, vertebrae or intervertebral discs
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/18 obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/52 Hydrogels or hydrocolloids
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/54 Biologically active materials, e.g. therapeutic substances A61L27/227 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/58 Materials at least partially resorbable by the body
• CPC Class Codes: C08G 2210/00 Compositions for preparing hydrogels
• CPC Class Codes: C08G 65/33324 acyclic

Abstract

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a surgical treatment for treating a tissue inside a vertebral column by forming a low-swelling biodegradable hydrogel in situ adherent to a tissue inside the vertebral column and substantially exterior to a theca in the vertebral column.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

forming a low-swelling biodegradable hydrogel by in situ polymerization that is adherent to tissue inside a vertebral column and substantially exterior to a theca in the vertebral column.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrogel is substantially limited to a portion of the vertebral column selected from the group consisting of a peridural space and an epidural space.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue is a spinal nerve root.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrogel is crosslinked to form a gel from a first synthetic precursor possessing first functional groups and a second synthetic precursor possessing second functional groups in less than about 10 seconds after mixing the first precursor and second precursor with each other.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first functional groups comprise nucleophiles and the second functional groups comprise electrophiles.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first synthetic precursor is selected from the group consisting of dilysines, trilysines, and tetralysines.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the first synthetic precursor comprises an oligopeptide sequence of no more than five residues comprising at least two lysine groups.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the second synthetic precursor comprises a multi-armed precursor possessing a core and arms, the arms each comprising a polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight from about 250 to about 5000.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the core is selected from the group consisting of polyethers, polyamino acids, proteins, and polyols.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the core is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol, polyethylene oxide, polyethylene oxide-co-polypropylene oxide, co-polyethylene oxide copolymers, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidinone, poly(amino acids), dextran, proteins, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming the hydrogel in the presence of a drug.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the hydrogel comprises reacting a first synthetic precursor comprising at least three of a first functional group with a second synthetic polymer precursor comprising at least three arms that each comprise a second functional group, wherein the first functional group reacts with the second functional group to form covalent crosslinks between the first synthetic precursor and the second synthetic polymer precursor, and wherein the hydrogel swells by from about −

50% to about 50% by weight upon exposure to a physiological solution.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first precursor and the second precursor crosslink to form the hydrogel in less than about 10 seconds after contacting the first precursor with the second precursor.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the arms of the second precursor each comprise a polyethylene glycol having molecular weight from about 250 to about 5000.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the hydrogel further comprises a drug.

16. A composition comprising:

a first synthetic precursor possessing first functional groups;

a second synthetic precursor comprising a multi-armed precursor possessing a core and from about 3 to about 12 arms, the arms each comprising a polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight from about 250 to about 5000 and possessing second functional groups at the ends thereof;

wherein the first functional groups crosslink with the second functional groups thereby forming a hydrogel which swells from about −

50% to about 50%.

17. The composition of claim 16, wherein the hydrogel shrinks by a weight decrease of from about 1% to about 50%.

18. The composition of claim 16, wherein the first functional groups comprise nucleophiles and the second functional groups comprise electrophiles.

19. The composition of claim 16, wherein the first synthetic precursor is selected from the group consisting of dilysines, trilysines, and tetralysines and the core of the second synthetic precursor is selected from the group consisting of polyethers, polyamino acids, proteins, and polyols.

20. The composition of claim 16, further comprising a drug.

21. The composition of claim 16, further comprising a visualization agent.

22. The composition of claim 21, wherein the visualization agent comprises a dye selected from the group consisting of FD&

C Blue #1, FD&

C Blue #2, FD&

C Blue #3, D&

C Green #6, methylene blue, and combinations thereof,

23. A kit for producing a hydrogel comprising:

a first synthetic precursor possessing first functional groups;

a second synthetic precursor comprising a multi-armed precursor possessing a core and from about 3 to about 12 arms, the arms each comprising a polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight from about 250 to about 5000 and possessing second functional groups at the ends thereof;

wherein the first functional groups crosslink with the second functional groups thereby forming a hydrogel which swells from about −

50% to about 50%.