3-Dimensional parylene scaffold cage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9248013-B2
Application number	US-201313740069-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2013
Priority date	Dec 5, 2011
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

Thin parylene C membranes having smooth front sides and ultrathin regions (e.g., 0.01 μm to 5 μm thick) interspersed with thicker regions are disclosed. The back sides of the membranes can be rough compared with the smooth front sides. The membranes can be used in vitro to grow monolayers of cells in a laboratory or in vivo as surgically implantable growth layers, such as to replace the Bruch's membrane in the eye. The application further provides an implantable cage-like apparatus for culturing cells comprising the parylene membrane.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A three-dimensional implantable apparatus for implanting cells comprising:
a top portion comprising a top face joined to each of four side faces, wherein said top portion is configured to allow microvilli or other cellular processes to connect to an anatomical structure external to said implantable apparatus;
a bottom portion comprising parylene having a first thickness and a second thickness; and
a gap between the top portion and the bottom portion, wherein the bottom portion is joined with each of the four side faces, the gap being suitable for growth of cells to be implanted,
wherein said cells are selected from the group consisting of cartilage cells, heart muscle cells, and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells,
wherein the first thickness of the bottom portion is configured to allow proteins having a molecular weight of 70 kilodaltons or less to move through the bottom portion and to inhibit movement of proteins having a molecular weight greater and 100 kilodaltons through the bottom portion, and
wherein the second thickness of the bottom portion is greater than the first thickness of the bottom portion.

2. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the parylene comprises parylene C.

3. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the parylene C is between 0.1 μm to 10 μm thick.

4. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the parylene C is between 0.15 μm to 0.8 μm thick.

5. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the implantable apparatus consists entirely of a biocompatible material suitable for implantation in a human or animal body.

6. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said bottom portion has permeability similar to a Bruch's membrane.

7. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said bottom portion allows diffusion of cell nutrients and cell waste through the semi-permeable membrane to cells, facilitating cell growth as a monolayer on the membrane.

8. The three-dimensional implantable apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said top portion blocks cell migration.

9. A three-dimensional implantable apparatus for implanting cells, comprising:
a top portion comprising a top face joined to each of four side faces, wherein said top portion is configured to block cell migration but allow microvilli or other cellular processes to connect to an anatomical structure external to said implantable apparatus;
a bottom portion having a first thickness and a second thickness; and
a gap between the top portion and the bottom portion, wherein the bottom portion is joined with each of the four side faces, the gap being suitable for growth of cells to be implanted,
wherein said cells are selected from the group consisting of cartilage cells, heart muscle cells, and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells,
wherein the first thickness of the bottom portion is configured to have a thickness between 0.01 μm and 5 μm, and
wherein the second thickness of the bottom portion is at least 2 times thicker than the first thickness of the bottom portion.

Assignees

• California Inst Of Techn
• Univ Southern California

Inventors

• Tai Yu-Chong
• Lu Bo
• Humayun Mark

Classifications

• A61L27/34

  Macromolecular materials · CPC title

• A61L27/3804

  characterised by specific cells or progenitors thereof, e.g. fibroblasts, connective tissue cells, kidney cells · CPC title

• C12N5/0068 Primary

  General culture methods using substrates (for specific animal cell type C12N5/06) · CPC title

• A61F2240/001

  Designing or manufacturing processes · CPC title

• A61F2/02

  Prostheses implantable into the body · CPC title