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US 5,512,600 AGranted
Preparation of bonded fiber structures for cell implantation
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsAntonios G. Mikos, Robert S. Langer
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Abstract
A novel processing technique is reported to bond non-woven fibers and, thus, prepare structural interconnecting fiber networks with different shapes for organ implants. The fibers are physically joined without any surface or bulk modification and have their initial diameter.
Claims5
A method for making a polymeric matrix suitable for culturing cells comprising
- providing fibers formed of a first polymer,
- placing the fibers in a solution of a second polymer,
- wherein the polymers are synthetic, biocompatible polymers, the second polymer is dissolved in a solvent that is a non-solvent for the first polymer and the melting point of the first polymer is less than the melting point of the second polymer,
- solidifying the second polymer by removing the solvent to form a matrix of the second polymer around the fibers formed of the first polymer,
- heating the fiber-matrix to a temperature at which the first polymer melts and maintaining the temperature until the first polymer at the fiber interfaces melts,
- cooling the first polymer until it solidifies, and
- dissolving the second polymer and removing the dissolved polymer to leave fibers formed of the first polymer immobilized and bonded at the fiber interfaces.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.