Tissue maintenance system that applies rhythmic pulses of pressure

摘要

A growth support scaffold for cells and tissue is formed of naturally derived connective or skeletal tissue which has been treated for elimination of cellular and cytosolic elements, and modified by cross-linking with hyaluronic acid, proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans, chondroitin sulfates, heparan sulfates, heparins or dextran sulfates. The scaffold may contain cell adhesive molecules and growth factors, and can be formulated as a malleable prosthesis. A tissue maintenance system is provided containing a chamber having a constant atmosphere which may contain the scaffold impregnated with cells, a medium-containing reservoir, a pump which can be computer controlled for circulating the medium between the chamber and reservoir and may change direction of medium flow every 1 to 3 minutes, and a pressure generator, which can be the pump, for producing rhythmic pulses of pressure such as between 0.5 to 30 atm and frequency of 5-300 per minute.