Cell housing device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024342077-A9
Application number	US-202318471622-A
Country	US
Kind code	A9
Filing date	Sep 21, 2023
Priority date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication date	Oct 17, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a cell housing device and a method of manufacturing such a device that has an array of chemicals to increase the ratio of surface area to volume.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of manufacturing a cell housing device, comprising:
sintering a first membrane and/or a second membrane prior to fusion; and fusing the first membrane with the second membrane to form a compartment for housing a population of cells between the first membrane and the second membrane.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a plurality of channels between the first membrane and the second membrane.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein forming the plurality of channels includes forming the plurality of channels in the first membrane.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein forming the plurality of channels in the first membrane comprises:
heating the first membrane for a predetermined time at a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature, and molding the plurality of channels with a mold.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein fusing the first membrane with the second membrane comprises fusing the first membrane with the second membrane in the mold.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the mold comprises a positive mold.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the mold comprises a negative mold.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined temperature is about 100 degrees Celsius (° C.) to about 600° C.

9 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined pressure is about 2 pounds per square inch (psi) to about 140 psi.

10 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined time is about 3 minutes to about 30 minutes.

11 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined pressure is about 3.5 psi, and wherein the predetermined temperature is about 370° C.

12 . The method of claim 3 , wherein forming the plurality of channels in the first membrane and fusing the first membrane with the second membrane comprises:
placing the first membrane and the second membrane in a frame, wherein the first membrane and the second membrane are generally parallel, generally aligned, and separated by a gap distance; and striking one or more points on the first membrane with a fusion tool, wherein the fusion tool is heated to a set fusion temperature, and wherein the fusion tool contacts the membrane for a set fusion time during each strike.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein striking the first membrane pierces at least one of the first membrane and the second membrane, and fuses a portion of the first membrane to the second membrane.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the frame encompasses at least a portion of an outer edge of each of the first membrane and the second membrane.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the gap distance is about 300 micrometers (μm) to about 1,200 μm.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the fusion tool has a striking contact area of at least about 0.07 square millimeters (mm 2 ).

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein striking one or more points on the first membrane by the fusion tool comprises striking each of the one or more points up to 16 times.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the striking one or more points on the first membrane by the fusion tool comprises striking each of the one or more points for 1 to 6 times.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the set fusion temperature is about 250° C. to about 1,600° C.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the set fusion time is less than about 1 second.

21 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising embossing the first membrane before forming the plurality of channels.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first membrane and the second membrane is substantially flat.

23 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising laser ablating a portion of the first membrane and the second membrane within the plurality of channels.

24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein laser ablating comprises removing the fused portions of the first membrane and the second membrane to form an opening.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the opening has a concentricity with respect to the channel of at most 25% the diameter of the channel.

26 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising coating the device with a hydrophilic polymer.

27 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first membrane is sintered.

28 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second membrane is not sintered.

29 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second membrane and the first membrane are fused with a fusion peel force of at least about 0.2 Newtons (N).

30 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first membrane and the second membrane comprises PVDF, PTFE, ePTFE, PCL, PE/PES, PP, PS, PMMA, PLGA, PLLA, or any combination thereof.

31 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first membrane and/or the second membrane comprise expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE).

32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein sintering includes sintering at 370° C.

33 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first membrane and/or the second membrane comprise an average pore size in the range of 5 nanometers (nm) to 2500 nm.

34 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the compartment has a surface area to volume ratio of at least about 40 cm −1 .

35 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising fusing the first membrane to the second membrane in at least one internal area within a fused perimeter of the device.

36 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising filling the compartment with the cell population.

37 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the cell population is capable of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS).

38 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first membrane and the second membrane is semi-permeable.

Assignees

• Vertex Pharma

Inventors

• Thanos Christopher
• Lavin Danya M
• Bintz Briannan E
• Bhatnagar Divya
• Mills John
• Billings Megan

Classifications

• A61F2/022

  Artificial gland structures using bioreactors (hemodialysis A61M1/16; hemofiltration A61M1/34; other extracorporeal blood treatment A61M1/36) · CPC title

• A61K47/32

  Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds, e.g. carbomers {, poly(meth)acrylates, or polyvinyl pyrrolidone} · CPC title

• A61K47/34

  Macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds, e.g. polyesters, polyamino acids, polysiloxanes, polyphosphazines, copolymers of polyalkylene glycol or poloxamers (A61K47/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61K35/39

  Pancreas; Islets of Langerhans (Langerhans cells of epidermis A61K35/36) · CPC title

• A61P3/10

  for hyperglycaemia, e.g. antidiabetics · CPC title