Surgery – Instruments – Cutting – puncturing or piercing
Patent
1993-01-07
1995-08-08
Pellegrino, Stephen C.
Surgery
Instruments
Cutting, puncturing or piercing
604 62, A61B 1700
Patent
active
054394759
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention is concerned with an apparatus and method for transplantation and grafting of specimens of animal issue.
Particularly although not exclusively, this invention is concerned with an apparatus and method of transplantation and grafting of epithelialized and de-epithelialized human tissue containing hair follicles.
There are many techniques available for human "hair transplants" and these techniques vary greatly in effectiveness and cost to the patient.
One prior art technique is known as "punch" grafting wherein a cylindrical plug or other shape of epithelialized tissue is removed from a bald patch of scalp and is replaced by a plug of similar dimensions after (about 4-5 mm in diameter) of tissue containing hair follicles which is removed from another region of the patient's scalp. This technique is slow (and thus costly), painful and usually gives rise to development of unsightly scar tissue. A further disadvantage of this technique is that due to delays in revascularization of the transplanted "plug" there is a higher mortality of hair bulbs in the central region of the relatively large "plugs". Similarly, as the removal of the plug from the donor site is unable to be accurately aligned with hair shafts there is some further loss of otherwise viable hair shafts around the perimeter of the plug due to trauma in cutting the plug shape, if the hair bulb is damaged.
Of more recent times a micrografting technique has found favour. This involves the excision of a section of skin and subcutaneous tissue from a donor site (usually the occipital scalp region) after which the donor site is closed by sutures. The excised portion of tissue is then divided, in a direction parallel to the hair shafts into elongate slivers about 1.5 mm or smaller in diameter. The fatty portion below the epidermis is then removed.
The micrografts so obtained are then inserted into small scalpel incisions with the de-epithelialized micrografts located below the outer surface of the scalp or the epithelialized micrograft lying flush with the scalp surface.
Although generally effective in terms of a successful grafting technique with substantially reduced scarring, "micro-grafting" is extremely slow in terms of preparation and insertion of the individual micrografts and thus necessitates a prolonged period of treatment for a patient. Such prolonged surgical treatments are extremely expensive and generally are available only to patients of substantial means.
Accordingly, it can be seen that the choice of hair transplantation technique for a patient is a compromise between cost, effectiveness and duration of the treatment period.
It is an aim of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate the disadvantages of prior art tissue grafting techniques and to provide a novel apparatus and method to achieve successful and cost effective tissue grafting in patients.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for tissue transplantation, said apparatus comprising:
storage means adapted to receivably locate in respective receptacles a plurality of prepared portions of tissue;
transfer means adapted to transfer individual portions of said tissue from a respective receptacle to a recipient graft site; and,
penetration means associated with said transfer means to penetrate a graft site to a predetermined depth to facilitate deposition of said portion of tissue in a selected region of said graft site.
Suitably said storage means comprises a magazine member having a plurality of spaced storage compartments.
If required said storage compartments may comprise hollow elongate passages in said magazine member, said passages having openings at opposed ends thereof.
Preferably said elongate passages each include a slotted aperture extending longitudinally of a side wall of a respective passage.
The penetration means suitably comprises a thin walled tubular member having a free end sharpened to facilitate penetration of a body of tissue.
Preferably said tubular member is tapered towards its free end.
Most preferably said
REFERENCES:
patent: 3867942 (1975-02-01), Bellantoni et al.
patent: 4451254 (1984-05-01), Dinius et al.
patent: 4787384 (1988-11-01), Campbell et al.
patent: 4919664 (1990-04-01), Oliver et al.
patent: 4969903 (1990-11-01), Valle
Dawson Glenn
Pellegrino Stephen C.
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