Reinforced biological construct and method of reinforcing biological construct
AssigneeArthrex, Inc.
InventorJohn KONICEK
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reinforced graft construct for repairing a tendon or ligament formed by inserting a piece of material, such as suture, through the graft lengthwise. The material may be inserted along only a portion of the graft or along the entire graft. The material may be a reinforcement (reinforcing) material such as suture, tape, weave, or mesh passed lengthwise through the graft (for example, along the center of the graft). The ends of the graft may be whipstitched to provide additional fixation when implanted. The material may be bioabsorbable such that it will resorb away after a period of time in the body.
Claims16
A graft assembly, comprising:
- a folded tendon graft including a first end portion and an integral second end portion that are arranged together to form a loop;
- a first fixation device and loop construct positioned about the folded tendon graft;
- a second fixation device and loop construct positioned about the folded tendon graft;
- and
- a tape received through the first end portion or the integral second end portion of the folded tendon graft.
A graft assembly, comprising:
- a graft including a first end portion and a second end portion;
- a tape passed through the first end portion or the second end portion for reinforcing the graft;
- and
- a stitched region formed by stitching the first end portion and the second end portion of the graft together,
- wherein the tape reinforces a portion of the graft that includes the stitched region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.