Three-dimensional medical implant for regeneration of soft tissue

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a three-dimensional, degradable medical implant for regeneration of soft tissue comprising a plurality of volume-building components (20) and a mesh component (22) which is substantially made of monofilament or multifilament fibers, wherein each volume-building component (20) is attached to at least one point on a surface of the mesh component (22), and wherein the projected surface area of each volume-building component (20), when projected on the surface of the mesh component (22), corresponds to a maximum of one tenth of the surface area of the mesh component.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present disclosure relates to the field of medical technology, in particular to a three-dimensional degradable medical implant for regeneration of soft tissue. The medical implant comprises a plurality of volume-building components and a mesh component which is substantially made of monofilament or multifilament fibers. The projected surface area of each volume-building component, when projected on the surface of the mesh component, is substantially smaller than the surface area of the mesh component.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Degradable polymers like polyesters and polycarbonates have been used for years within the medical device industry as sutures and various fixation devices such as plates, pins and screws to hold small bone fragments together during healing. The activity in the field of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolding structures for the purpose of bridging tissue gaps and giving the cells a scaffold to populate and proliferate on has bee...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes the need for three-dimensional medical implants that can quickly become a part of the patient's tissue without compromising their flexibility and strength for different medical purposes. The technical effect of this invention is the creation of implants that can meet these requirements, making them more useful and reliable for medical use.

Problems solved by technology

However, the limited number of such devices in today's market indicates the difficulty in providing a scaffold that fits the surgeons' needs in terms of tissue regeneration, ease of use and problem-free healing.

One of the greatest challenges for the perfect scaffold is that it shall combine an adequate modulus required by the surrounding tissue to avoid modulus mismatch and at the same time have an open structure to allow for tissue ingrowth and vascularization to avoid apoptosis in the scaffold interior.

Furthermore, it is difficult to combine different scaffold characteristics or even different materials into one scaffold since porous materials made by solid leaching or phase separation techniques do yield a very similar structure throughout the entire scaffold.

There are however still several obstacles to overcome before it is possible to make scaffolds which possess a certain predefined design, which are easy to apply / adapt at the defect site and which have the required mechanical strength needed for various specific clinical defects.

The lack of pliability is often a tradeoff since the scaffold needs to possess certain rigidity in order for the matrix to withstand the natural load situation over the scaffold after implantation.

For hard tissue applications, pliability is not such a concern but the concept of using different materials and designs to achieve different clinical results at various sections of the scaffold is still an unsolved challenge, i.a. soft tissue integration and anchoring of the device in one section and bone tissue regeneration in the other section.

Current research within material and / or processing technology have not yet been able to mimic the properties of a fully functional matrix for soft tissue regeneration which, from a doctor's perspective should be easy to apply, should have minimal modulus mismatch and possess pliable and resilient properties without compromising with the mechanical requirements.

Modern hydrogels may seem to be the perfect choice of soft and resilient biomaterial, but they are fragile with poor mechanics and must be made and used at the bedside.

Some of them can be freeze dried and rehydrated before use, but this presents the doctor with additional work and distraction from the patient and the ongoing surgery.

The lack of possibility to anchor / fasten the hydrogel matrix is another great drawback with these types of scaffolds since most scaffolds will need suturing or some kind of tacks to keep them in place until it is anchored by new tissue deposited within the scaffold.

Current degradable scaffolds or matrices, aimed at short term support during repair or regeneration of new tissue in various clinical defects, have several drawbacks and among them is the lack of pliability of most scaffolds.

Lack of pliability often leads to an overall modulus mismatch with surrounding tissue that may trigger an excess of inflammatory reactions that may compromise the early healing process.

If the scaffold is made too soft or pliable there is an ultimate risk for collapse of the porous structure especially if the clinical situation exposes the scaffold to static or dynamic loads.

With current processes for making porous scaffolds which can be used for tissue regeneration or augmentation there are also limitations when it comes to fabrication of multilayer, gradient or multiphase scaffolds that could exhibit different physiochemical properties in various sections of the scaffold.

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