Preparation of injectable polymeric bodies
AssigneeAmerican Medical Systems, Inc.
InventorEric P. Berg
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Abstract
An injectable composition comprising a plurality of discrete physiologically-compataible, non-biodegradable, polymeric bodies, said bodies having (i) an average outside diameter of from about 0.005 to 0.20 inch, (ii) reversible deformability of about 20 to 75% of their unstressed outside diameter, and (iii) a lubricious surface; a process for the preparation of said composition and a method for treating a tissue condition in a patient using said composition.
Claims18
A process for the preparation of an injectable composition consisting of a plurality of discrete physiologically-compatible, non-biodegradable, polymeric bodies, said bodies having (i) an average outside diameter of from about 0.005 to 0.20 inch, (ii) reversible deformability of about 20 to 75% of their unstressed outside diameter, and (iii) a lubricous surface, which process comprises dissolving a physiologically-compatible, non-biodegradable, water-insoluble, non-crosslinked polymer in a dipolar aprotic organic solvent, rapidly injecting the resulting solution in a fine stream into a relatively large volume of a liquid medium which is a non-solvent for the polymer while slowly stirring said medium so that discrete bodies of the polymer are formed, washing said bodies until said solvent is removed and recovering bodies of the desired size by filtration through an appropriate sieve.
A method for treating a tissue condition in a patient which comprises injecting into the tissue site a tissue enhancing amount of an injectable composition consisting of a plurality of discrete, physiologically-compatible, non-biodegradable, polymeric bodies having (i) an average outside diameter of from about 0.005 to 0.20 inch, (ii) reversible deformability of about 20 to 75% of their unstressed outside diameter and (iii) a lubricious surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.