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Method of making an implantable containment apparatus for a therapeutical device

  • US 5,913,998 A
  • Filed: 01/09/1997
  • Issued: 06/22/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1995
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method of making an implantable containment apparatus for a therapeutical device which comprises:

  • providing a first sheet of porous polymeric material, wherein the first sheet comprises a first layer attached to a second layer, wherein the first layer comprises a porous stretched polytetrafluoroethylene material that is impervious to cellular ingrowth and wherein the second layer comprises a porous stretched polytetrafluoroethylene material that is sufficiently porous to permit growth of vascular tissue from a recipient within the pores of the porous stretched polytetrafluoroethylene material up to, but not through, the first layer;

    providing a second sheet of porous polymeric material, wherein the second sheet comprises a first layer attached to a second layer, wherein the first layer comprises a porous stretched polytetrafluoroethylene material that is impervious to cellular ingrowth and wherein the second layer comprises a porous stretched polytetrafluoroethylene material that is sufficiently porous to permit growth of vascular tissue from a recipient within the pores of the porous stretched polytetrafluoroethylene material up to, but not through, the first layer;

    providing a pair of dies, wherein each member of the die pair has at least one raised track thereon, wherein the raised track on one die is shaped in essentially a mirror image of the raised track on the other die, and wherein the raised tracks outline and define a perimeter for the implantable containment apparatus;

    layering the first sheet of porous polymeric material together with the second sheet of porous polymeric material in a laminar configuration such that the first layer of the first sheet faces the first layer of the second sheet;

    placing the layered first and second sheets of porous polymeric material in between the pair of dies;

    heating the raised tracks to a temperature between about 310 C. and about 380 C.;

    applying heat at a temperature between about 310 C. and about 380 C. to the layered first and second sheets of porous polymeric materials where the raised tracks of the die contact the sheets of layered materials; and

    applying pressure to the heated raised tracks sufficient to attach the first sheet of porous polymeric material to the second sheet of porous polymeric material where the heated raised tracks of the die pair contact the sheets of porous polymeric material to make the implantable containment apparatus, wherein the apparatus is in the form of a chamber, wherein the chamber comprises an exterior surface, an interior surface that defines a luminal space, and at least one access means through which at least one therapeutical device is insertable into the luminal space of the chamber, wherein the chamber is adapted to retain the therapeutical device in the luminal space, wherein therapeutical substances can diffuse across the thickness of the chamber between a therapeutical device contained therein and tissues of a recipient surrounding the apparatus, and wherein the therapeutical device is removable from the chamber through the access means of the chamber.

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