Bioabsorbable Membrane for Prevention of Post-Operative Adhesions

Background:

Biodegradable and/or bioabsorbable fibrous articles have been fabricated previously. They have many useful medical applications, such as preventing post-surgery adhesion. A method of producing these fibers is through electrospinning. This is an atomization process of a conducting fluid which utilizes the interactions between an electrostatic field and the conducting fluid. Electrostatic atomization results in fibers with large surface areas and small pore sizes; the downside is the yield of the process. This process yield is very low; the scale-up process cannot be easily achieved, and has not been commercially implemented. There's no method of production of these fibrous articles for medical applications, and there's currently a need for it.

Technology Overview:

This is a method of producing biodegradable/bioabsorbable fibrous articles for medical applications. Preferably, the fiberizable material is a biodegradable/bioabsorbable polymer, containing a monomer that's one of a list of possible options: glycolide, lactide, dioxanone, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, ethylene glycol or lysine. The article produced contains a composite (or in another aspect of the invention, an asymmetric composite) of different fibers produced through electrospinning. These fibers can have different chemical compositions, polymeric materials, molecular weights, blends of polymers, additives, or concentrations of additives. They can also have an assortment of different diameters too, ranging from a few nanometers to almost one micron; most preferably, the range is from 20 to 500 nanometers

Advantages:

- Maintains performance characteristics of films or membranes made from electrospun fibers - Avoidance of surgical adhesions, which can cause: - Obstruction of the intestine (for intestinal surgery) - Restriction of tendon movement (for adhesions near a bone fracture site) - Disruption of nerve transmissions (for adhesions formed in the vicinity of nerves) - Female infertility - Need for additional surgery for adhesion removal - Improved performance and handling characteristics for medical applications

Applications:

- Medical applications  - Reducing surgical adhesions  - Controlled delivery of a medical agent - Controlled tissue healing

Intellectual Property Summary:

Patented

Stage of Development:

WO 2002/092339 [7,172,765](https://patents.google.com/patent/US7172765)

Licensing Status:

Available for licensing.

Licensing Potential:

Licensing,Commercial partner,Development partner

Additional Information: