Method for vocal cord reconstruction

Patent Number: 6918396

This invention is useful for repairing injuries to head and neck tissue through use of vertebrate-derived submucosa or basement membrane matrices as a graft for the regeneration and repair of said head and neck soft tissues.

Specifically, it is known that

a) The naturally-occurring extracellular matrix (ECM) of the small intestinal submucosa, as well as other vertebrate sources of submucosa, has been shown to serve as a resorbable scaffold for numerous body systems.

b) Basement membranes (stroma) prepared from liver tissue of warm-blooded vertebrates (by removing cellular components of the liver tissue) exhibit mechanical and biotropic properties suitable for use as a tissue graft material

c) Compositions comprising the tunica submucosa and the basilar portions of the tunica mucosa of the intestine of warm-blooded vertebrates can be used as tissue graft materials in sheet form. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,508.

* what this patent teaches, essentially is, repair of head and neck tissue through the use of submucosa and basement membrane...including derived from xenogenic sources*

The independent claims of the patent are:

A method for the repair or replacement of vocal cord tissues comprising the steps of: removing a damaged or diseased portion of a vocal cord, and replacing the removed portion of the vocal cord with a graft construct comprising vertebrate submucosa or basement membrane.

A method for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased head or neck soft tissues comprising the steps of:
- removing the damaged or diseased portion of the head or neck soft tissues,
- and replacing the removed portion of tissue with a graft construct comprising vertebrate submucosa or intact basement membrane, wherein the head or neck soft tissues are selected from the group consisting of vocal cord, larynx, palate, nasal, and auricular tissues.

A method for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased head or neck soft tissues comprising the steps of:
- removing a damaged or diseased portion of the head or neck soft tissues;
- and replacing the removed portion of tissue with a graft construct comprising vertebrate submucosa or intact basement membrane, wherein the head or neck soft tissues include a native structure having an epithelial cell layer, connective tissue, and functional muscle.

A method for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased head or neck soft tissues comprising the steps of: removing the damaged or diseased portion of the head or neck soft tissues, and replacing the removed portion of tissue with a graft construct comprising vertebrate submucosa or basement membrane, wherein the head or neck soft tissues are selected from the group consisting of vocal cord, larynx, and palate tissues.

A method for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased head or neck soft tissues comprising the steps of: removing the damaged or diseased portion of the head or neck soft tissues, and replacing the removed portion of tissue with an acellular graft construct comprising vertebrate submucosa or basement membrane, wherein the head or neck soft tissues are selected from the group consisting of vocal cord, larynx, palate, attached gingiva, nasal, and auricular tissues.

A method for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased head or neck soft tissues comprising the steps of: removing the damaged or diseased portion of the head or neck soft tissues, and replacing the removed portion of tissue with a graft construct comprising an isolated sheet of extracellular matrix tissue, wherein the head or neck soft tissues are selected from the group consisting of vocal cord, larynx, palate, attached gingiva, nasal, and auricular tissues.

View this patent on the USPTO website.