Claims
- 1. A method of rotator cuff repair, comprising the steps of:
harvesting fibrocytes from a living donor; harvesting rotator cuff tissue from a recently deceased human or animal donor, keeping the extracellular matrix intact; combining the harvested cells with the extracellular matrix to produce an engineered rotator cuff tissue; and transplanting the engineered rotator cuff tissue into or onto a patient's rotator cuff to be repaired.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further including the step of delivering the engineered rotator cuff tissue through a percutaneous or laparoscopic procedure.
- 3. The method of claim 1, further including the step of adding one or more therapeutic substances to the engineered rotator cuff tissue.
- 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the therapeutic substances include one or more of the following:
culture media, growth factors, differentiation factors, hydrogels, polymers, antibiotics., anti-inflammatory medications, or immunosuppressive medications.
- 5. The method of claim 1, further including the step of keeping the harvested cells viable until delivered.
- 6. An engineered rotator cuff according to the method of claim 1.
- 7. The engineered rotator cuff of claim 1, further including one or more therapeutic substances.
- 8. The engineered annulus fibrosis of claim 7, wherein the therapeutic substances include one or more of the following:
culture media, growth factors, differentiation factors, hydrogels, polymers, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medications, or immunosuppressive medications.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/688,716, filed Oct. 16, 2000, which claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 60/159,488, filed Oct. 14, 1999; and is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/415,382, filed Oct. 8, 1999. The entire content of each application is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60159488 |
Oct 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09688716 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
10171283 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09415382 |
Oct 1999 |
US |
Child |
10171283 |
Jun 2002 |
US |