Patent Application: US-201514862536-A

Abstract:
a scaffold is provided which facilitates integration of both bone and cartilage at an osteochondral lesion , thereby acting as a tissue engineered interface or tissue engineered junction between the two different tissues . the method and systems for engineering this interface may be acellular or may be loaded with cells prior to use .

Description:
for the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention , reference will now be made to the embodiments described in the following written specification . it is understood that no limitation to the scope of the invention is thereby intended . it is further understood that the present invention includes any alterations and modifications to the illustrated embodiments and includes further applications of the principles of the invention as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains . the interfacial implant of the present disclosure comprises a three - dimensional fiber scaffold tailored to match one or more of the principal native tissue properties , including , but not limited to : compressive modulus , tensile modulus , inhomogeneity , anisotropy , poisson &# 39 ; s ratio , non - linearity , and viscoelasticity . the interfacial implant comprises at least three systems of fibers defining an upper , middle , and lower layer . the layers in combination recreate many of the native properties of the tissue and facilitate the anchorage of the cartilage and bone during healing of the defect . it follows that the tissue grows in and throughout the interfacial implant . in one aspect , the interfacial implant is constructed using three - dimensional ( 3d ) warp interlock structures as described in : “ general definition of 3d warp interlock fabric architecture ” ( boussu f , cristian i , nauman s , composites part b : engineering . 2015 ; 81 : 171 - 88 . doi : http :// dx . doi . org / 10 . 1016 / j . compositesb . 2015 . 07 . 013 ); “ fibre damage in the manufacture of advanced three - dimensional woven composites ” ( rudov - clark s , mouritz a p , lee l , bannister m k , composites part a : applied science and manufacturing . 2003 ; 34 ( 10 ): 963 - 70 . doi : http :// dx . doi . org / 10 . 1016 / s1359 - 835x ( 03 ) 00213 - 6 ); and “ behavior of 3d orthogonal woven cfrp composites . part i . experimental investigation ” ( tan p , tong l , steven g p , ishikawa t ., composites part a : applied science and manufacturing . 2000 ; 31 ( 3 ): 259 - 71 . doi : http :// dx . doi . org / 10 . 1016 / s1359 - 835x ( 99 ) 00070 - 6 ), the entire disclosure of each reference of which is incorporated herein by reference . the interfacial implant may also be fabricated by knitting , braiding , or non - woven processes or combinations thereof , or in combination with the warp interlock fabrics described above . the interfacial implant has controlled porosity with pores on the order of 50 - 1000 μm to allow through growth and consolidation of the tissue in the interfacial implant . the interfacial implant comprises fibers made from biocompatible materials , which may be multifilament fibers , monofilament fibers , filaments that have variable or irregular cross - section along its length , hollow fibers , or any combination thereof . the fibers are preferably on the order of 25 - 300 μm in thickness or diameter . the biocompatible fibers are comprised of bioresorbable biomaterials , non - bioresorbable biomaterials , or combinations thereof . representative non - bioresorbable materials include but are not limited to polypropylene , polyester , polytetrafluorethylene ( ptfe ), polyurethane , polycarbonate urethane , polyamide , nylon , polyaryletherketone materials ( paek ), polysulfone , carbon , ceramic , metal , or any other acceptable non - bioresorbable biomaterial fiber . representative resorbable materials include but are not limited to polyglycolic acid ( pga ), polylactic acid ( pla ), polycaprolactone ( pcl ), collagen , silk , chitin , chitosan , hyaluronic acid , or any other acceptable bioresorbable biomaterial fiber . in a further aspect of the disclosure , the interfacial implant may also be used to deliver cells ( e . g ., chondrocytes , fibroblasts , progenitor cells , stem cells , reprogrammed cells ) and / or additional , exogenously introduced biologically active molecules , such as growth factors , cytokines , chemokines , antibiotics , dna , plasmids , or other molecules that may induce directed growth and / or differentiation of cells , or vectors capable of delivering bioactive therapeutic genes to the product . the interfacial implant may be at least partially coated with inorganic matrix coatings known to promote bone formation such as , hydroxyapatite , calcium phosphate , calcium carbonate , alumina , zirconia , yttria - stabilized zirconia , silicon nitride - based materials , bioactive glass , and / or glass ceramics . the interfacial implant may also be at least partially coated with extracellular - derived biomaterials such as a cartilage - derived matrix , demineralized bone matrix or other decellularized tissues . in yet another aspect , the interfacial implant may be partially ( e . g ., on the cartilage layer side ) or completely filled with a biomaterial gel consisting of collagen , hyaluronic acid , alginate , agarose , chitosan , gelatin , laminin , fibronectin , interpenetrating networks ( networks that are completely biological , all synthetic , or a combination of the two ), or fibrin . further still , the fibers of the implant according to the present disclosure may be coated with bioactive coatings , for example adeno - associated virus ( aav ), lentivirus ( lv ), naked dna , peptides , self - assembling peptides , anti - inflammatory drugs , cytokines , cytokines inhibitors , macromolecules native to bone and cartilage ( e . g ., proteoglycan , cartilage oligomeric matrix protein , hyaluronic acid , collagen type i , collagen type ii , and bone morphogenetic proteins ) or a combination thereof . a portion of the fibers may be coated with one or more biological agents , and portions may be left uncoated or coated with altogether different agents . one of the benefits of the architecture of the warp interlock fabrics is the ability to coat individual fiber bundles to induce site - specific differentiation of cells on the scaffold . referring first to fig1 , a two - dimensional ( 2d ) side ( sagittal ) view of a long bone shows cartilage 1 and bone 2 with an osteochondral defect 3 . as illustrated , the defect encompasses both cartilage and bone tissue . now referring to fig2 - 3 , the irregular osteochondral defect is precisely prepared to provide a complementary pocket 4 for an interfacial implant 5 constructed as described above . the interfacial implant consolidates the de novo synthesized cartilage tissue 6 and bone 7 as shown in fig4 . in a further aspect of the methods of the present disclosure , the interfacial implant 5 is sized in relation to the prepared hole so that an approximate mid - line 5 a of the implant is located at the anatomical plane 1 - 2 where the cartilage meets the bone in native , healthy tissue . with this configuration , the scaffold provided by the implant 5 acts as a common anchor point for the two tissues as well as a site for ingrowth from each of the tissues . it can be appreciated that the preparation of the bone bed within the pocket 4 produces bleeding bone at the base of the pocket . this bleeding bone will quickly infiltrate the lower half of the implant scaffold below the implant mid - line 5 a . tissue ingrowth from the cartilage tissue 6 , on the other hand , does not happen immediately but rather occurs over time . however , the implant 5 retains its form and strength as the cartilaginous tissue grows into the implant scaffold . referring now to fig5 - 7 , the repair of a small osteochondral lesion in the knee and in particular the medial femoral condyle is shown . fig5 depicts a medial femoral condyle 10 with a small osteochondral lesion 9 relative to the size of the condyle . the lesion has penetrated the cartilage 8 and into the underlying bone . in fig6 , a reamer , drill , end mill , or other suitable instrument or tool is used to precisely prepare the defect for the interfacial implant . in this example , a hole with a controlled diameter and depth to a flat bottom is prepared . an interfacial implant 12 is prepared as described above to complement the geometry of the prepared hole ( fig7 ). fig8 - 10 are similar to fig5 - 7 but show a large , irregular defect in the condyle in this example . to enable an “ off - the - shelf ” solution , the geometry of the osteochondral lesion is enlarged to a “ standard ” shape , in this case a slot or channel 16 . the regular channel is formed with the use of surgical instruments such as a drill bit , end mill , burr or other tool that is capable of controllably removing both bone and cartilage . after precise preparation of the footprint of the lesion , an interfacial implant 17 having complementary geometry to the prepared channel 16 is press fit into the defect site . fig1 is demonstrative of the clinical efficacy of the interfacial implant . an interfacial implant 21 was placed in the osteochondral defect as described , and consolidation of the cartilage and bone tissues is evident in this cross - sectional histology image . cartilage tissue 19 is found in the upper layers of the interfacial implant as noted by a red safranin - o stain , and bone tissue is found in the lower layers of the implant , as noted by a bluish - green fastgreen stain in the original histological image . additionally the interfacial implant shows incorporation with the bone 20 in addition to cartilage tissue 18 forming on the top layers of the interfacial implant 21 . a cartilage repair implant is constructed from an orthogonal 3d woven fabric as follows : a biomedical grade yarn ( 150 μm in diameter ) was woven into a 3d orthogonal structure containing eleven in - plane fiber layers ; five layers were oriented in the warp ( x - direction , or 0 ° or lengthwise in the loom ) direction , six layers were oriented in the weft ( y - direction or 90 ° to the lengthwise fibers ) direction and binding fibers were oriented in the z - direction . the structure contained twenty - four yarns per centimeter in each of the five warp layers , twenty yarns per centimeter in each of the six weft layers and twenty - four yarns per centimeter in the z - direction . the interconnected internal pores of the implant has dimensions of 390 μm × 320 μm × 104 μm , yielding a total void volume of about 70 %. after the fabric is woven , the implant is cut to near size , and then molded into the shape of the defect using custom - built molds for the geometry in question . preferably , the material is stabilized using controlled heating to reorganize the molecular state of the polymers that make up the constituent yarns and lock them into an altered physical conformation . this process , known as “ heat setting ” stabilizes the structure without sacrificing the porosity in each layer , the through porosity , or the designed mechanical properties of the structure . a cartilage repair implant is constructed from an orthogonal 3d woven fabric as follows : a biomedical grade yarn ( 150 μm in diameter ) was woven into a 3d orthogonal structure containing a total of eleven in - plane fiber layers ; five layers were oriented in the warp ( 0 ° or lengthwise in the loom ) direction , six layers were oriented in the weft ( 90 ° to the lengthwise fibers ) direction and binding fibers were oriented in the z - direction . the structure contained twenty - four yarns per centimeter in each of the five warp layers , fifteen yarns per centimeter in each of the six weft layers and twenty - four yarns per centimeter in the z - direction . the woven yarns formed interconnected internal pores having dimensions of 450 μm × 320 μm × 104 μm , yielding a total void volume of about 74 %. after the fabric is woven , the implant is cut to near size and then molded into the shape of the defect using custom - built molds for the geometry in question . preferably , the material is stabilized using controlled heating to reorganize the molecular state of the polymers that make up the constituent yarns and lock them into an altered physical conformation . this process , known as “ heat setting ” stabilizes the structure without sacrificing the porosity in each layer , the through porosity , and the designed mechanical properties of the structure . a cartilage repair implant is constructed from an orthogonal 3d woven fabric as follows : a biomedical grade yarn ( 150 μm in diameter ) was woven into a 3d orthogonal structure eleven in - plane fiber layers ; five layers were oriented in the warp ( 0 ° or lengthwise in the loom ) direction , six layers were oriented in the weft ( 90 ° to the lengthwise fibers ) direction and binding fibers were oriented in the z - direction . the structure contained twenty - four yarns per centimeter in each of the five warp layers , twenty yarns per centimeter in each of the six weft layers and twenty - four yarns per centimeter in the z - direction . prior to weaving , the top two layers of warp fiber bundles are coated with a lentivirus encoding transforming growth factor — beta ( tgf - β ) to induce cartilaginous differentiation of cells migrating onto the scaffold after implantation . the bottom three layers of warp fibers are coated with bone morphogenetic factor 2 ( bmp - 2 ) to promote osteogenic differentiation of the endogenous stem cells migrating into the scaffold . as in example 1 , the interconnected internal pores had dimensions of 390 μm × 320 μm × 104 μm , yielding a total void volume of about 70 %. after the fabric is woven , the implant is cut to near size , lyophilized , and sterilized using non - heat sterilization methods ( e . g ., low temperature ethylene oxide sterilization ). the implant is removed from packaging at the time of surgery , cut to the shape of the defect and then placed into the defect with the osteogenic side on the prepared bone bed . the cartilage repair implant of example 1 may be altered to feature different porosities and properties on the two sides of the implant . the porosity of the upper cartilage layer of the structure is reduced by increasing the density of z - direction binder yarns and decreasing the spacing between the weft yarns through the upper two layers . this has the added benefit of decreasing the roughness of the implant . the pore size in the surface layer ( or layers ) is effectively decreased to 200 μm × 150 μm × 50 μm . as in example 1 , the interconnected internal pores in the osteogenic ( lower ) layers retain dimensions of 390 μm × 320 μm × 104 μm , yielding a total void volume of about 78 %. the present disclosure should be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character . it is understood that only certain embodiments have been presented and that all changes , modifications and further applications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected . 1 . hjelle k , solheim e , strand t , muri r , brittberg m . articular cartilage defects in 1 , 000 knee arthroscopies . arthroscopy - 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