Tendon repair implant and method of arthroscopic implantation

A tendon repair implant for repair of a partial thickness tear of a supraspinatus tendon having a load bearing direction, the tendon repair implant comprising:

• a sheet-like structure having a longitudinal dimension, a lateral dimension, and a thickness dimension and configured to be affixed to a surface of the supraspinatus tendon such that the longitudinal dimension of the sheet-like structure extends generally parallel to the load bearing direction of the supraspinatus tendon, wherein when affixed to the surface of the supraspinatus tendon, the sheet-like structure is configured to initially share between 1% and 50% of a load applied to the supraspinatus tendon;
• the sheet-like structure comprising a plurality of longitudinal pathways that encourage tissue in-growth therein, wherein the longitudinal pathways extend along the longitudinal dimension of the sheet-like structure and have cross sections of about 150 microns to 200 microns;
• and
• the sheet-like structure having a compressive modulus greater than the supraspinatus tendon to allow for cyclic straining of the sheet-like implant and any tissue in-growth.

A tendon repair implant for repair of a partial thickness tear of a tendon, the tendon repair implant comprising:

• a sheet-like structure configured to have an initial tensile modulus of about 1 MPa to 100 MPa in the range of 1% to 3% strain and comprises a plurality of pores for tissue in-growth, wherein the sheet-like structure is flexible such that when the sheet-like structure is affixed to a surface of the tendon the sheet-like structure conforms to the surface of the tendon;
• the sheet-like structure being configured to initially have an initial load share representing between 1% and 50% of a load applied to the tendon;
• and
• the sheet-like structure being configured to degrade in tensile strength from an initial tensile strength thereby sharing less of the load of the tendon over time but retain at least 50% of the initial load share of the sheet-like implant three months after being affixed to the tendon.