| 摘要 |
A method of repairing connective tissue uses a heterograft for supporting ingrowth of ligament or tendon connective tissue to replace damaged connective tissue in a subject which is composed of a plurality of long, thin fibers extracted from animal connective tissue having generally the same mechanical properties as the tissue to be replaced. The individual fibers are extracted by a sequence of chemical treatments and mechanical treatments, purified to eliminate foreign material from the fibers, and cross-linked to a degree that causes their shrinkage temperature to have a preselected value that corresponds to the desired tensile strength, allows only a preselected amount of water retention by the fibers in order to enhance attraction of fibrogenic cells to the fiber surfaces, and avoids producing foreign body reaction to the heterograft. The fibers are maintained generally parallel in a bundle or weave. The tensile strength of the heterograft permits the subject to continue normal activities involving the joint immediately after implant surgery without immobilizing the joint. This ensures that repetitive, normal stress is applied to the heterograft and aligns ingrowing fibrogenic cells and natural collagen connective tissue replacement produced by the fibrogenic cells in the direction of the repetitive stresses, orienting and enhancing the growth of natural replacement connective tissue.
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