Tissue-engineered ligament
First Claim
1. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
- a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet, and the scaffold sheet containing at least one slit;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for the reconstruction of a previously torn ligament using a tissue-engineered ligament. The tissue-engineered ligament includes a scaffold of biocompatible material having at least one layer and forming a sheet. The scaffold is placed in a cultured medium for seeding with fibrocyte forming cells. The seeded scaffold is then placed in an incubator to increase the number of cells. The seeded scaffold is then formed into a slender structure suitable for implantation. The method of making a tissue-engineered ligament includes forming a scaffold of biocompatible material having at least one layer forming a sheet. Next, the scaffold sheet is seeded with fibrocyte forming cells. The method further includes increasing the number of cells on the seeded scaffold and forming a slender structure suitable for implantation from the scaffold.
185 Citations
53 Claims
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1. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet, and the scaffold sheet containing at least one slit;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 43, 44, 53)
means for attaching each end of the tissue-engineered ligament to implantation sites within a patient.
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44. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus further comprises:
means for forming microchannels in the scaffold sheet.
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53. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the means for attaching is an interference screw for fixation of the end of each ligament at the implantation site.
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22. A method of making a tissue-engineered ligament, said method comprising:
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forming a scaffold sheet of biocompatible material having at least one layer;
seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold of at least one sheet;
increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells on the seeded scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45)
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46. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament, and the tissue-engineered ligament having threads molded into each end thereof.
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47. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament;
wherein the scaffold sheet has an interlocking surface along a first section and a second section whereby portions of the first section and the second section interlock with corresponding portions of the first section and the second section when the slender structure is formed from the scaffold sheet.
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48. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament, and the tissue-engineered ligament having opposed end margins connected by strips, the end margins having a greater thickness than the strips, wherein the configuration of the strips acts as scaffolding for the fibrocyte forming cells to grow therein.
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49. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold;
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament; and
means for cyclic tensile loading prior to implantation.
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50. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament;
wherein the fibrocyte forming cells increasing means includes implantation in a penultimate location of a patient'"'"'s body prior to implantation in a functional location.
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51. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold; and
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament;
wherein the scaffold sheet comprises fascia lata tissue.
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52. An apparatus for reconstruction of a previously torn ligament, said apparatus comprising:
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a scaffold of biocompatible material, the scaffold having at least one layer forming a scaffold sheet;
means for seeding the scaffold sheet with fibrocyte forming cells to form a seeded scaffold;
means for increasing the number of the fibrocyte forming cells seeded on the scaffold to create a tissue-engineered scaffold;
means for forming a slender structure from the tissue-engineered scaffold, the slender structure being a tissue-engineered ligament suitable for implantation into a patient for reconstruction of a ligament; and
means for forming microchannels in the scaffold sheet.
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Specification