Synergetic functionalized spiral-in-tubular bone scaffolds
First Claim
1. An integrated scaffold for bone tissue engineering having a tubular outer shell formed of at least a first biodegradable polymer and defining a bore having a bore surface;
- and a spiral scaffold insert including a porous sheet formed of at least a second biodegradable polymer, said porous sheet being wound about an axis such that said porous sheet forms a series of coils about said axis and defines a spiral gap between said series of coils, one of said coils being an outermost coil and having an outer surface, wherein said spiral scaffold insert resides at least partially within said bore of said tubular outer shell,the improvement comprising at least a portion of said outer surface of said outermost coil integrated with said bore surface such as to provide geometric stability to said spiral scaffold insert.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated scaffold for bone tissue engineering has a tubular outer shell and a spiral scaffold made of a porous sheet. The spiral scaffold is formed such that the porous sheet defines a series of spiral coils with gaps of controlled width between the coils to provide an open geometry for enhanced cell growth. The spiral scaffold resides within the bore of the shell and is integrated with the shell to fix the geometry of the spiral scaffold. Nanofibers may be deposited on the porous sheet to enhance cell penetration into the spiral scaffold. The spiral scaffold may have alternating layers of polymer and ceramic on the porous sheet that have been built up using a layer-by-layer method. The spiral scaffold may be seeded with cells by growing a cell sheet and placing the cell sheet on the porous sheet before it is rolled.
619 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An integrated scaffold for bone tissue engineering having a tubular outer shell formed of at least a first biodegradable polymer and defining a bore having a bore surface;
- and a spiral scaffold insert including a porous sheet formed of at least a second biodegradable polymer, said porous sheet being wound about an axis such that said porous sheet forms a series of coils about said axis and defines a spiral gap between said series of coils, one of said coils being an outermost coil and having an outer surface, wherein said spiral scaffold insert resides at least partially within said bore of said tubular outer shell,
the improvement comprising at least a portion of said outer surface of said outermost coil integrated with said bore surface such as to provide geometric stability to said spiral scaffold insert. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- and a spiral scaffold insert including a porous sheet formed of at least a second biodegradable polymer, said porous sheet being wound about an axis such that said porous sheet forms a series of coils about said axis and defines a spiral gap between said series of coils, one of said coils being an outermost coil and having an outer surface, wherein said spiral scaffold insert resides at least partially within said bore of said tubular outer shell,
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13. A method of making an integrated scaffold for bone tissue engineering including the steps of:
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forming a tubular outer shell of at least a first biodegradable polymer such that the tubular outer shell defines a bore having a bore diameter and a bore surface; and forming a spiral scaffold insert, said step of forming a spiral scaffold insert including the steps of (a) preparing a porous sheet of a biodegradable polymer, (b) placing a sheet of a deformable material on said porous sheet and rolling the sheet of deformable material and the porous sheet about an axis such as to form a spiral structure having alternating coils of the porous sheet and the deformable material and an outer diameter that is approximately as large as the bore diameter of the tubular outer shell, (c) fixing the shape of the spiral structure by performing the steps of heating the spiral structure then freezing the spiral structure, (d) removing the sheet of deformable material from the spiral structure such that said porous sheet defines a spiral gap between the coils of the porous sheet, whereby said spiral insert has an outermost coil formed of said porous sheet and having an outer surface; the improvement comprising the steps of; (e) inserting the spiral scaffold insert into the bore of the tubular outer shell such that the outer surface of the outermost coil of the spiral scaffold insert contacts the bore surface, thereby forming an interface between the outer surface of the outermost coil and the bore surface; (f) applying a solvent at the interface such as to soften the first and second biodegradable polymers at the interface; and (g) evaporating the solvent such that the outer surface of the outermost coil becomes integrated with the bore surface through interaction of the first and second polymers, thereby providing geometric stability to the spiral scaffold insert. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification