Lead Inventors: Helen Lu Ph.D., Jeffrey Spalazzi Ph.D., Kathie Dionisio



Problem or Unmet Need:

Failures at the interface between bone and soft tissue (tendons and ligaments), a common sports injury, are among the most difficult to repair, notably ACL tears. The nature and demands of the different tissue types, which need to regenerate at the interface are often disparate and are not supported by current techniques, which fix bone to ligament with Titanium screws. A scaffold with the ability to properly seed and differentiate tissue and actually regenerate the interface would mark a significant advance in treating these conditions.



Details of the Invention:

The technology is a composite ceramic scaffold with tunable osteogenic properties for controlled and proper regeneration of tissue at the bone/ligament interface. The scaffold is a composite of ceramic microspheres sintered and/or pressed into a continuous framework. By controlling the composition of the ceramic materials used, creating a continuous gradient, the structural, mechanical, and chemical properties can be varied to direct the seeding and differentiation of multiple tissue types. The scaffold promotes the seamless integration of the tissue to bone. Additionally the ceramic composite can be layered with a biodegradable polymer mesh to aid in integration.



Applications:

• Interference screws or graft caps for ACL reconstruction

• Orthopedic implant for tissue repair at interface of hard and soft tissue, including ligaments, tendons, and cartilage with bone

• Osteochondral plugs for treatment of osteoarthritis



Advantages:

• Scaffold is biodegradable and can be integrated with host bone tissue

• The scaffold's variable mechanical, structural, and chemical properties support growth of multiple tissue types

• Multi-phasic scaffold can be used to mimic the interface between bone and soft tissue, controlling phenotypic expression, and improving integration at the interface



Patent Status: Patent Pending (US20060067969A1) ~ see link below.



Licensing Status: Available for Licensing and Sponsored Research Support



Publications: Compositional effects on the formation of a calcium phosphate layer and the response of osteoblast-like cells on polymer-bioactive glass composites, Lu et al., Biomaterials Volume 26, Issue 32, November 2005, Pages 6323-6334.





Other Links:

• USPTO - US20060067969A1

Further Information
Donna See
Email: TechTransfer@columbia.edu

File Number: 1503