Description:
Reference #: 01079
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for treating bioartificial tissues and similar materials with a novel cleaning solution.
Invention Description:
This subject invention is a cleaning solution that can be used in the production of artificial tissues and organs by dissolving water in carbon dioxide at a certain temperature and pressure. Unlike other solutions, which dry out the tissue and are rendered unsuitable for clinical use, this solution allows the tissue to retain its moisture and other native characteristics.
Potential Applications:
Carbon dioxide flow systems used in the decellularization of xenographic tissue using supercritical carbon dioxide for the purpose of creating a tissue engineering scaffold composed of the remaining extracellular matrix
Advantages and Benefits:
1. Does not leave residual contaminants in the matrix
2. Does not dehydrate or remove essential volatile materials
3. More selective than a standard solvent by using compressed gas to tailor processes to the specific xenograft base material
4. Accomplishes multiple aims (decellularization), contaminant removal, and disinfectant) in one process apparatus
5. Lowers capital and operating costs and is safer to use
Background:
This type of decellularization has been researched in the past, but was abandoned because it dehydrated the tissue, causing it to become brittle and lose its mechanical strength. This invention prevents this from occurring in a way that the carbon dioxide is unable to extract water from the tissue.
Testing and Development:
The method’s functionality was verified by two different sets of experiments, which showed that little to no water was extracted from the test subjects.