Claims
- 1. A method of preparing a flexible collagenous biological graft material comprising a network of collagen fibers, said method comprising the step of:
- (a) longitudinally compressing the network of collagen fibers while exposing the collagen fibers to a collagen cross-linking reagent.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
- i. placing the graft material on a smooth surfaced support member;
- ii. exerting a compressive force on said graft material to place said graft material in a longitudinally compressed state;
- iii. maintaining the graft material in said compressed state;
- iv. immersing the compressed graft material in the collagen cross-linking reagent for a period of time sufficient to effect adequate fixation of the collagen fibers within the graft material;
- v. removing the graft material from the collagen cross-linking reagent; and
- vi. removing the graft material from said compressed state and from the support member.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein step (ii.) further comprises:
- compressing said graft material along its longitudinal axis to a compressed state so that the graft material is decreased in length by an amount equal to about 1% to 50% of its original length.
- 4. The method of claim 2 wherein step (ii.) further comprises:
- compressing said graft material along its longitudinal axis to a compressed state so that the graft material is decreased in length by an amount equal to about 5% to 30% of its original length.
- 5. The method of claim 2 wherein step (iv.) comprises immersing the graft material in a liquid solution of polyepoxy fixative for at least 24 hours.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein "immersing the graft material in a liquid solution of polyepoxy fixative" comprises:
- immersing the graft material in a 2% (vol.) aqueous solution of glycerol triglycidyl ether.
- 7. A collagenous biological vascular graft prepared by a method which comprises the steps of:
- (a) harvesting a segment of blood vessel having a luminal surface and a network of collagen fibers from a mammalian source;
- (b) placing the segment of blood vessel on a cylindrical support member having an outer surface such that the luminal surface of the blood vessel is in contact with the outer surface of the cylindrical support member;
- (c) longitudinally compressing the segment of blood vessel to a compressed length so that the segment of blood vessel is shortened by an amount equal to 1% to 50% of its original relaxed length;
- (d) immersing the longitudinally compressed segment of blood vessel in a collagen cross-linking reagent for a period of time sufficient to achieve adequate cross-linking of the collagen fibers contained in the segment of blood vessel;
- (e) removing the segment of blood vessel from the collagen cross-linking reagent;
- (f) releasing the segment of blood vessel from said longitudinally compressed state and removing the segment of blood vessel from the outer surface of said cylindrical support member.
- 8. The biological vascular graft of claim 7 wherein step (c) comprises:
- longitudinally compressing the segment of blood vessel to a compressed length so that the segment of blood vessel is shortened by an amount equal to 40% to 50% of its original relaxed length.
RELATED CASES
This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/656,656, filed on Feb. 14, 1991, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
086150 |
Aug 1983 |
EPX |
128043 |
Dec 1984 |
EPX |
179600 |
Apr 1985 |
EPX |
320441 |
Jun 1989 |
DEX |
8200091 |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
656656 |
Feb 1991 |
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