PREPARING POROUS HYDROGEL PRODUCTS PREPARING POROUS HYDROGEL PRODUCTS

摘要

This invention is directed to a new approach to form porous hydrogel materia ls by first creating gas pockets in the gel and then removing this gas. The removal of the gas creates a porous material, and the initial incorporation of sufficient gas allows one to create a material with an open, interconnected pore structure. Advantageous features of the resulting materials, in additio n to their interconnected pore structure, may include that the pore structure is maintained over extended time periods and that the gels maintain a high mechanical integrity that allows seeding with cells and implantation without destruction or compression of the material.