A method of preparing a structure is provided. The method includes providing an initial structure; casting a first material in one or more void volumes of the initial structure; removing the initial structure from the first material; obtaining a cast structure comprising the first material; coating a second material on the cast structure; casting a third material using the coated cast structure; removing the first material; and obtaining a final structure. In various embodiments, the initial structure can include a first initial structure and a second initial structure and casting a first material in one or more first void volumes of the first initial structure and in one or more second void volumes of the second initial structure. In various embodiments, the method includes assembling the first cast structure and the second cast structure and obtaining an assembled structure comprising the first cast structure and the second cast structure.

A biocompatible membrane composite including a cell impermeable layer and a mitigation layer is provided. The cell impermeable layer is impervious to vascular ingrowth and prevents cellular contact from the host. Additionally, the mitigation layer includes solid features. In at least one embodiment, mitigation layer has therein bonded solid features. In some embodiments, the cell impermeable layer and the mitigation layer are intimately bonded or otherwise connected to each other to form a composite layer having a tight/open structure. A reinforcing component may optionally be positioned external to or within the biocompatible membrane composite to provide support to and prevent distortion. The biocompatible membrane composite may be used in or to form a device for encapsulating biological entities, including, but not limited to, pancreatic lineage type cells such as pancreatic progenitors.

The invention is directed to a multilayered drug eluting biodegradable foam comprising at least two layers, wherein each layer independently comprises a polymer and wherein at least one of said layers is a drug-comprising layer, which comprises at least one drug that is mixed with the polymer in said drug-comprising layer.

A bioartificial device, such as a bioartificial pancreas, for implantation in a patient's vascular system. The bioartificial pancreas includes a scaffold adapted to engage an interior wall of a blood vessel, a cellular complex support by the scaffold and extending longitudinally within the interior cavity of the scaffold so as to be exposed to the blood flow when the scaffold is engaged with the blood vessel, the cellular complex support comprising one or more pockets bordered by thin film; and cellular complex comprising pancreatic islets disposed in the one or more pockets, the thin film being adapted to permit oxygen and glucose to diffuse from flowing blood into the one or more pockets at a rate sufficient to support the viability of the islets. The invention also includes methods of making and using a bioartificial pancreas.

The invention relates to an antimicrobial surface comprising a first array of nano/micro structures spaced apart on a support, characterized in that it comprises a second array of spaced apart nanostructures located on said support and on said first array nanostructures, said second array nanostructures having different size features compared to the nanostructures of said first array.

The present solution can temporarily impart the handling characteristics of corneal stroma to the otherwise very thin, flimsy, coiling, and fragile Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) tissue during its insertion into the anterior chamber and positioning in apposition against the cornea of the recipient eye. The device of the present solution can be configured in a number of ways. In a first configuration, a scaffold can be coupled with the endothelial side of the DMEK graft. In a second configuration, the scaffold can be coupled with the stromal side of the DMEK graft. In a third configuration, one or more scaffolds can be coupled with both the endothelial and stromal side of the DMEK graft.

A liquid formulation of an ophthalmic drug in a pharmaceutical package, for example a syringe, cartridge, or vial, made in part or in whole of a thermoplastic polymer, coated on the interior with a tie coating or layer, a barrier coating or layer, a pH protective coating or layer, and optionally a lubricity coating or layer.

The disclosure relates to winged graft devices, methods of manufacture, and methods of use to repair, e.g., repair perforations, in tympanic membranes, or to augment defective tympanic membranes.

The invention relates to a white, bacteria-resistant, biocompatible, adherent coating for an element which can be integrated in hard and soft tissue, in particular an implant, a screw or a plate, having a structure made from metalliferous gradient layers having varying oxygen content, wherein the band gap of the outer-most gradient layer is greater than 3.1 eV, wherein the outer-most gradient layer is crystalline and wherein the gradient layers comprise tantalum and/or niobium and/or zirconium and/or titanium.

Coated bone grafts are provided as well as methods of use thereof and methods of making. In accordance with the instant invention, methods of preparing a coated bone graft (e.g., bone allograft) are provided. In certain embodiments, the method comprises electrospraying a composition comprising a polymer and, optionally, an agent, particularly a therapeutic agent, onto the surface of the bone graft. Therapeutic agents include, without limitation: bone stimulating agents, anti-fibrotic agents, antimicrobials, anti-inflammatory agents, and pro-angiogenesis agents.