Importance

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Abstract

A prosthetic tissue patch includes a sheet of material having first and second sides, with a plurality of macrochannels extending parallel to each other in the plane of the sheet, and defining a dispersed set of chambers that serves as a reservoir of pharmaceutical material or living culture. The channels communicate through pores in the thin surrounding wall with a surface of the sheet which is placed in contact with tissue and may intergrow therewith. The sheet is preferably 0.2-2.0 mm. thick, with the macrochannels each having a diameter between about 0.1 and 1.5 mm, generally no more than about three quarters of the sheet thickness. A preferred embodiment is formed of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with an anisotropic porosity structure of nodes which may be oriented generally transverse to the plane of the sheet. The channels are initially filled either by conventional methods, or by insertion of solid filaments of material, and may be capped closed by a special plug. They may be refilled by capillary or pressure connection to a special resupply manifold. The patch performs passive drug delivery, or in vivo culture for active manufacture and topical delivery of bioactive material. The patch also may support growth of natural tissue and become incorporated in the adjacent organ or tissue to which it is attached, or it may serve as a 'nursery' for culturing autologous cells to be used elsewhere or in a subsequent operation.

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First Claim