This technology is an automated system that dips, rotates, and coats a mandrel to build multi-layer, biodegradable tubular constructs for nerve repair. By automating the coating, particle-embedding, and rotation steps that are traditionally performed by hand, the system enables more consistent, reproducible production of nerve guide constructs for peripheral nerve injury treatment.
Description
The system is built around at least one frame that supports a reservoir, a mandrel base, and a mandrel coupled to that base. A first mechanism moves the frame along a vertical axis to dip the mandrel into and out of a polymer solution held in the reservoir, while a second mechanism rotates the mandrel base along a horizontal axis between different orientations. A separate container, positioned to receive the mandrel once it has been rotated into a second orientation, holds particles that can be embedded into the still-wet polymer coating on the mandrel.
This arrangement allows a construct to be built up in a controlled, repeatable sequence: the mandrel is coated with a first polymer layer, rotated into position to receive particles on one side, rotated again to receive particles on the opposing side, then dipped in a second polymer solution to seal the particles beneath an outer layer. The process can be repeated to build a wall of a pre-determined thickness. The system can include a microcontroller that manually, semi-automatically, or fully automatically controls the frame, mandrel base, and container movements, and that can monitor, record, and save housing conditions such as temperature and humidity. Multiple mandrel bases and reservoirs can be operated together or independently, allowing several constructs to be produced within the same system.
Applications
- Pre-clinical and research-scale production of resorbable nerve guide constructs for peripheral nerve injury studies
- Fabrication of biodegradable, multi-layer tubular biomaterial constructs for tissue engineering applications
- Controlled-release drug/biologic delivery constructs incorporating particle-based active agent payloads
- Laboratory automation equipment for dip-coating processes requiring layered particle embedding
- Platform for producing constructs used in comparative studies against autograft or allograft nerve repair approaches
Advantages
- Automates the dip-coating and particle-embedding process, reducing reliance on manual, hand-built fabrication
- Supports manual, semi-automatic, or fully automatic operation via a microcontroller, offering flexibility across research settings
- Enables independent or coordinated control of two or more mandrel bases and reservoirs, supporting parallel construct production
- Uses rotational positioning to embed particles on opposing sides of a mandrel for more even distribution
- Monitors and records housing conditions (temperature and humidity) during production, supporting process consistency and data traceability
Invention Readiness
The technology is presented as a working bench-scale automated system, with photographic documentation of the assembled frames, mandrel bases, dipping mechanism, and rotational mechanism carrying out the dipping, rotating, and particle-embedding sequence. An exemplary resorbable construct (a polycaprolactone-based tube) has been produced using the system and mandrel-removal process, demonstrating that the described mechanism can generate a construct with a defined lumen and wall structure. Further studies would be needed to establish process scale-up, batch-to-batch reproducibility at larger volumes, and performance of constructs produced by the system in downstream biological or pre-clinical testing.
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US12097645B2
