Artificial meniscus and process of making thereof
AssigneeNational University Corporation Hokkaido University
InventorsYoshihito Osada, Jian Ping Gong, Kazunori Yasuda
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Abstract
An artificial meniscus, a base material of which is a hydrogel having a semi-interpenetrating network structure or an interpenetrating network structure (e.g., a linear polymer or a network structure composing the hydrogel is a polymer of an electrically charged unsaturated monomer and/or an electrically neutral unsaturated monomer or a crosslinked product thereof or/and a naturally occurring macromolecule or a crosslinked product thereof.), which can maintain moderate mechanical properties even in the case of application for an extended period of time between the joints where the severest mechanical environment is found in an organism, and which has no fear of causing osteoarthritis.
Claims7
An artificial meniscus, a base material of which is a hydrogel having a semi-interpenetrating network structure or an interpenetrating network structure wherein the hydrogel is produced by a process comprising:
- a first step of polymerizing and crosslinking a first monomer component, of which 10 mol % or more is an electrically charged unsaturated monomer selected from the group consisting of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and a salt thereof, in the presence of a solvent, to thereby form a first network structure;
- and
- a second step of introducing a second monomer component, of which 60 mol % or more is an electrically neutral unsaturated monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, N-isopropylacrylamide, N,N-dimethyl-acrylamide, vinylpyridine, styrene, methylmethacrylate, fluorine-containing unsaturated monomer, hydroxyethyl acrylate and vinyl acetate, into the first network structure and then polymerizing the second monomer component in the presence of a solvent, to thereby form a polymer in the first network structure;
- or optionally, further crosslinking the polymer to thereby form a second network structure in the first network structure, and
- in the case of the second monomer component being polymerized and crosslinked, the degree of crosslinking is set to be lower than the degree of crosslinking when the first monomer component is polymerized and crosslinked and wherein the molar ratio in amount of the first monomer component to the second monomer component is from 1:2 to 1:100
- wherein the hydrogel has a compression stress at rupture of 3 to 40 MPa.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.