Absorbable composition

• US 5,502,159 A
• Filed: 05/01/1995
• Issued: 03/26/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United States Surgical Corporation (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: United States Surgical Corporation (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Kennedy, John, Liu, Cheng-Kung, Bennett, Steven L., Muth, Ross R., Kaplan, Donald S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dodson, Shelley A.
• Application Number:
  US08/431,529
• Time in Patent Office: 330 Days
• Field of Search: 528/354, 528/357, 525/408, 525/415, 606/230, 606/231, 128/335.5, 523/105
• US Class Current: 528/354
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 17/12 Homopolymers or copolymers of glycolic acid or lactic acid
• CPC Class Codes: C08G 63/08 Lactones or lactides
• CPC Class Codes: C08G 63/664 derived from hydroxy carboxylic acids

Abstract

A block copolymer for use in the fabrication of bioabsorbable articles such as monofilament surgical sutures is prepared by copolymerizing one or more hard phase forming monomers and 1,4-dioxan-2-one, and then polymerizing one or more hard phase forming monomers with the dioxanone-containing copolymer.

Claims

1. A block copolymer which comprises a proportion of units of one or more hard phase forming monomers as one of said blocks, and another of said blocks comprising a proportion of units having the formula:

##STR4## randomly combined with a proportion of units of one or more hard phase forming monomers, said hard phase forming monomer is comprising from about 1 to about 10 mole percent of the block containing units of the formula;

##STR5##

2. The block copolymer of claim 1 wherein said block copolymer is a triblock copolymer.

3. The block copolymer of claim 1 wherein said one or more hard phase forming monomers are selected from the group consisting of glycolide, lactide and mixtures thereof.

4. The block copolymer of claim 1 wherein lactide is the hard phase forming monomer in said block containing units of the formula:

##STR6##

5. A surgical article manufactured from a block copolymer which comprises a proportion of units of one or more hard phase forming monomers as one of said blocks, and another of said blocks comprising a proportion of units having the formula:

##STR7## randomly combined with a proportion of units of one or more hard phase forming monomers, said hard phase forming monomer is comprising from about 1 to about 10 mole percent of the block containing units of the formula;

##STR8##

6. The surgical article of claim 5 wherein said block copolymer is a triblock copolymer.

7. The surgical article of claim 5 wherein said surgical article is a suture.

8. The surgical article of claim 7 wherein said suture is a monofilament suture.

9. The surgical article of claim 5 wherein lactide is the hard phase forming monomer in said block containing units of the formula:

##STR9##

10. A method for preparing a bioabsorbable block copolymer, comprising:

a) polymerizing a mixture of from about 1 to about 10 mole percent of one or more hard phase forming monomers from about 9 to about 99 mole percent and 1,4-dioxan-2-one at a first reaction temperature to create a copolymer thereof;

b) polymerizing one or more hard phase forming monomers with the copolymer of step (a) at a second reaction temperature to create the bioabsorbable block copolymer.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said block copolymer is a triblock copolymer.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said first reaction temperature comprises a temperature of from about 100°

C. to about 150°

C.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein said second reaction temperature comprises a temperature of from about 200°

C. to about 250°

C.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein step (a) is carried out in the presence of a catalyst is selected from the group consisting of stannous octoate, stannous chloride, dibutyl tin dilaurate, dibutyl tin diacetate, dibutyl tin dichloride, stannic chloride pentahydrate, aluminum isopropoxide, antimony trioxide, stannic fluoride, stannous citrate, stannous acetate, antimony trifluoride, tin tetraisopropoxide, lead oxide, tetraisopropyl titanate, titanium acetyl acetonate, tetraoctylene glycol titanate, boron trifluoride etherate, and aluminum trichloride.

15. A method for making a bioabsorbable surgical article, comprising:

a) polymerizing a mixture of from about 1 to about 10 mole percent of one or more hard phase forming monomers and from about 90 to about 99 mole percent 1,4-dioxan-2-one at a first reaction temperature to create a copolymer thereof;

b) polymerizing one or more hard phase forming monomers with the copolymer of step (a) at a second reaction temperature to create a bioabsorbable block copolymer;

c) forming a surgical article from said block copolymer.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein lactide is used as the hard phase forming monomer is said step (a).

17. The method of claim 16 wherein glycolide is used as the hard phase forming monomer in said step (b).

18. The method of claim 15 wherein said forming includes the step of extruding the block copolymer into a filament.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the bioabsorbable surgical article comprises a suture.