Adipose Tissue Deagglomerator for Minimizing Cell Damage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for processing adipose tissue for medical implantation, such as liposuction and centrifugation, cause significant damage to fat cells and contamination risks due to incomplete separation and handling of large cell clusters, leading to unusable tissue and increased infection risks.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a housing assembly with cutting elements that creates a fluid flow path between two syringes, allowing for the deagglomeration of adipose tissue into smaller clusters without damaging intact cells, using a bidirectional process to ensure effective resizing and minimize contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If centrifugation is used to separate adipose tissue, then liquid phase separation is improved, but adipocyte damage and lysis increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical centrifugation system with an enzymatic digestion system using collagenase. Instead of using centrifugal force to separate adipose tissue, the invention uses enzymatic action to selectively digest the extracellular matrix and separate adipocytes from connective tissue, thereby avoiding mechanical damage to cell membranes while achieving effective separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the separation mechanism from mechanical (centrifugal force) to biochemical (enzymatic digestion). By controlling enzymatic reaction parameters such as enzyme concentration, incubation time, and temperature, the system achieves separation while preserving adipocyte integrity, resolving the contradiction between separation efficiency and cell viability.
2Manufacturing precision
If mechanical fragmentation using blender is used to deagglomerate fat cells, then cell separation is improved, but adipocyte damage increases and contamination risk rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical fragmentation methods (blender, centrifugation) with enzymatic digestion using collagenase. This biochemical approach selectively breaks down the extracellular matrix and connective tissue without mechanically stressing adipocyte membranes, thereby achieving deagglomeration while minimizing cell damage and reducing contamination risks associated with multiple mechanical handling steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces collagenase enzyme as an intermediary substance that mediates the separation process. The enzyme acts as a selective agent that targets specific components (extracellular matrix) while leaving adipocytes intact, providing a controlled and gentle separation mechanism that avoids the harsh mechanical forces and contamination risks of direct mechanical fragmentation.
3Speed
If large fat cell clusters are injected directly, then injection speed is improved, but interaction with stem cells deteriorates and injection feasibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies segmentation by using collagenase to break down large adipose tissue masses into smaller, discrete adipocyte clusters or individual cells. This segmentation increases the surface area and accessibility of stem cells within the adipose tissue, improving their interaction capability while maintaining a manageable injection viscosity that allows for reasonable injection speeds through minimally invasive needles.
Data Source
AI summary
A deagglomerator for use in resizing masses of cells is disclosed. The deagglomerator may include a plurality of apertures defined by a plurality of front and back edges. The masses of cells may be passed through the plurality of apertures from the front to the back, and from the back to the front, repeatedly. The deagglomerator may also include a plurality of blades that may aid in the deagglomeration of the cell masses. The deagglomerator may be configured between two syringes so that the tissue may be passed back and forth from the first syringe through the device to the second syringe, and then back again from the second syringe through the device and to the first syringe. In this way, the masses of cells may be properly deagglomerated.