DEVELOPMENT OF DACRON-COLLAGEN COMPOSITE FOR LIGAMENTS

MANY SYNTHETIC AND BIOLOGICALLY DERIVED MATERIALS HAVE BEEN TESTED FOR USE IN TENDON AND LIGAMENT REPAIR. BOTH DACRON AND COLLAGEN HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE BIOCOMPATIBLE MATERIALS. DACRON HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE SUFFICIENT STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE FOR USE IN LIGAMENT REPLACEMENT; HOWEVER, IT IS NOT AN IDEAL CELL-SUPPORT MATERIAL AND WILL NOT WITHSTAND LONG-TERM MECHANICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL STRESSES. COLLAGEN, THE MAJOR STRUCTURAL PROTEIN OF TENDONS AND LIGAMENTS HAS BEEN USED EXTENSIVELY AS A SUPPORT FOR CELL GROWTH AND HAS BEEN SHOWN TO ENHANCE FIBROBLAST GROWTH AND, CONSEQUENTLY, IN VIVO COLLAGEN PRODUCTION. WHEN COLLAGEN IS PURIFIED AND RECONSTITUTED, HOWEVER, IT WILL NOT HAVE THE SAME INHERENT STRENGTH AS A TENDON OR LIGAMENT. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO PREPARE DACRON-COLLAGEN COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND TO USE IN VITRO AND IN VIVO ASSAYS TO DETERMINE THEIR POTENTIAL USE FOR LIGAMENT AND TENDON REPAIR. MATERIAL PREPARATION INVOLVES A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR COVALENT BONDING OF COLLAGEN TO THE SURFACE OF DACRON FIBERS, FOLLOWED BY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COLLAGEN MATRIX AROUND THE DACRON FIBERS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THIS MATERIAL WILL BE HIGHLY BIOCOMPATIBLE, WILL PRODUCE AT LEAST TEMPORARY MECHANICAL INTEGRITY, AND WILL SUBSEQUENTLY STRENGTHEN DUE TO NEW TISSUE INGROWTH TO EFFECT NEAR-NORMAL FUNCTION.