A method for supporting repair of soft tissue with biopolymer fibers. Biopolymer is dissolved in acid in a closed container made of materials inert to the acid and to the collagen to form a biopolymer solution. The solution is stirred, then centrifuged to degas it. The degassed solution is put into syringes on a holder. The number of syringes equals the number of fibers in the bundle. The syringes are mounted in a rotatable holder. Essentially equal quantities of degassed solution are extruded from the syringes to produce fibers, which are gathered and fed into a formation buffer bath. The fibers are kept taught after extrusion and dehydrated in a dehydrating solution in a dehydrating bath. The fibers are wound a collector to collect the bundle. The fibers are used to support repair of soft tissue.

A biopolymer fiber containing collagen. The biopolymer fiber has excellent ultimate tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and strain at break comparable to native human tendons and ligaments. The fiber may substantially circular, ovoid, square, rectangular, ribbon-like, triangular, or irregularly shaped. The fiber exhibits an ordered, longitudinally-oriented structure, and the fiber allows infiltration of cellular growth. Implantable biopolymer scaffolds and sutures containing the fibers are provided as well as microfluidic and extrusion methods for producing the biopolymer fibers.

A biopolymer fiber containing collagen. The biopolymer fiber has excellent ultimate tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and strain at break comparable to native human tendons and ligaments. The fiber may substantially circular, ovoid, square, rectangular, ribbon-like, triangular, or irregularly shaped. The fiber exhibits an ordered, longitudinally-oriented structure, and the fiber allows infiltration of cellular growth. Implantable biopolymer scaffolds and sutures containing the fibers are provided as well as microfluidic and extrusion methods for producing the biopolymer fibers.

A simple controllable set-up for drawing single filament nanofibers from polymer solutions or melts using a rotating rod or a set of rods (round brush) is described. The set-up can be assembled in a few minutes and applied to fabricate customized nanofiber scaffolds and meshes for various applications. The resulting fiber diameter is controlled precisely in the range 40 nm to 5 m by adjusting the rotational speed and polymer concentration. Owing to the simple design and capability to manipulate single nanofibers, the spinning set-up can be used to wind a single filament into unidirectional, orthogonal or randomly oriented 2D and 3D meshes with controlled density, thickness and combinations of different fibers and materials in the scaffolds. The method is scalable and can be implemented easily for laboratory and industrial manufacturing.

A simple controllable set-up for drawing single filament nanofibers from polymer solutions or melts using a rotating rod or a set of rods (round brush) is described. The set-up can be assembled in a few minutes and applied to fabricate customized nanofiber scaffolds and meshes for various applications. The resulting fiber diameter is controlled precisely in the range 40 nm to 5 m by adjusting the rotational speed and polymer concentration. Owing to the simple design and capability to manipulate single nanofibers, the spinning set-up can be used to wind a single filament into unidirectional, orthogonal or randomly oriented 2D and 3D meshes with controlled density, thickness and combinations of different fibers and materials in the scaffolds. The method is scalable and can be implemented easily for laboratory and industrial manufacturing.

The invention shows a spin-up device (11, 51) and a method for spinning up a spinning device (1, 101) for the continuous extrusion of molded bodies (3) from a spinning solution (6), containing a solvent and cellulose dissolved in the solvent, wherein the molded bodies are extruded from the spinning solution (6) through spinnerets (7) of the spinning device (1, 101) in the form of a loose spinning curtain (2), the molded bodies (3) of the loose spinning curtain (2) are combined into a molded body bundle (4) after the extrusion, and the molded body bundle (4) is, in a further step, fed to a draw-off member (10) of the spinning device (1, 101) in order to start a continuous extrusion of the molded bodies (3). In order to make the spin-up method simpler in terms of process technology and more reproducible, it is proposed to increase the tensile strength of at least some areas of the molded bodies (3) of the loose spinning curtain (2) after their extrusion and before combining them into a molded body bundle (4).

The invention shows a spin-up device (11, 51) and a method for spinning up a spinning device (1, 101) for the continuous extrusion of molded bodies (3) from a spinning solution (6), containing a solvent and cellulose dissolved in the solvent, wherein the molded bodies are extruded from the spinning solution (6) through spinnerets (7) of the spinning device (1, 101) in the form of a loose spinning curtain (2), the molded bodies (3) of the loose spinning curtain (2) are combined into a molded body bundle (4) after the extrusion, and the molded body bundle (4) is, in a further step, fed to a draw-off member (10) of the spinning device (1, 101) in order to start a continuous extrusion of the molded bodies (3). In order to make the spin-up method simpler in terms of process technology and more reproducible, it is proposed to increase the tensile strength of at least some areas of the molded bodies (3) of the loose spinning curtain (2) after their extrusion and before combining them into a molded body bundle (4).

What is shown is a spinning device (1) and a method for spinning up a spinning device (1) for the continuous extrusion of molded bodies (3) from a spinning solution (6), as well as a spin-up device (11) for the execution of the method, in which method the molded bodies (3) are extruded from the spinning solution (6) through spinnerets (7) of the spinning device (1) in the form of a loose spinning curtain (2), the molded bodies (3) of the loose spinning curtain (2) are, after the extrusion, combined into a molded body bundle (4), and the molded body bundle (4) is, in a further step, fed to a draw-off member (10) of the spinning device (1) in order to start a continuous extrusion of the molded bodies (3). In order to make the method for spinning up the spinning device (1) simpler and more reproducible, it is proposed that the molded bodies (3) be combined into the molded body bundle (4) by twisting the spinning curtain (2) around a torsion axis (20).

What is shown is a spinning device (1) and a method for spinning up a spinning device (1) for the continuous extrusion of molded bodies (3) from a spinning solution (6), as well as a spin-up device (11) for the execution of the method, in which method the molded bodies (3) are extruded from the spinning solution (6) through spinnerets (7) of the spinning device (1) in the form of a loose spinning curtain (2), the molded bodies (3) of the loose spinning curtain (2) are, after the extrusion, combined into a molded body bundle (4), and the molded body bundle (4) is, in a further step, fed to a draw-off member (10) of the spinning device (1) in order to start a continuous extrusion of the molded bodies (3). In order to make the method for spinning up the spinning device (1) simpler and more reproducible, it is proposed that the molded bodies (3) be combined into the molded body bundle (4) by twisting the spinning curtain (2) around a torsion axis (20).

A manufacturing method and an apparatus enable high productivity. A method for manufacturing an oxidized fiber bundle includes joining an upstream precursor fiber bundle and a downstream precursor fiber bundle together with a joining fiber bundle, and oxidizing the joined precursor fiber bundles by feeding the joined precursor fiber bundles through an oxidization furnace. The joining includes applying an oiling agent to a joint area of a joining target precursor fiber bundle before joining the joining target precursor fiber bundle and the joining fiber bundle together. A quantity of the oiling agent adhering to the joint area is 0.15 to 0.85 wt %.