Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
172 words
Artificial skin, made up of (1) a water vapour-permeable, non-porous top layer having a thickness of 5-200 um and made of a segmented thermoplastic copolyester, consisting essentially of a multiplicity of recurring long-chain-ester-units and short-chain-ester-units, the long-chain-ester-units making up 30-70% by weight of the copolyester and being represented by the formula --OLO--CO--R--CO-- and the short-chain-ester-units being represented by the formula --OEO--CO--R--CO-- wherein L in the long-chain-unit represents a divalent group which remains after removal of the terminal hydroxyl groups from a poly(oxyethylene) glycol with an average molecular weight of 500-3000; R is a divalent group which remains after removing the carboxyl groups from a dicarboxylic acid with a molecular weight of at most 300; and E in the above mentioned short-chain-unit represents an alkylene group having 2-6 carbon atoms, and (2) a macroporous lower layer of a degradable, biocompatible (co)polymer material selected from the group consisting of polymers and copolymers having a thickness of 30-300 um, the diameter of the macropores having a value of 30-300 microns and the macroporosity being 30-80%.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
172 words
Artificial skin, made up of (1) a water vapour-permeable, non-porous top layer having a thickness of 5-200 um and made of a segmented thermoplastic copolyester, consisting essentially of a multiplicity of recurring long-chain-ester-units and short-chain-ester-units, the long-chain-ester-units making up 30-70% by weight of the copolyester and being represented by the formula --OLO--CO--R--CO-- and the short-chain-ester-units being represented by the formula --OEO--CO--R--CO-- wherein L in the long-chain-unit represents a divalent group which remains after removal of the terminal hydroxyl groups from a poly(oxyethylene) glycol with an average molecular weight of 500-3000; R is a divalent group which remains after removing the carboxyl groups from a dicarboxylic acid with a molecular weight of at most 300; and E in the above mentioned short-chain-unit represents an alkylene group having 2-6 carbon atoms, and (2) a macroporous lower layer of a degradable, biocompatible (co)polymer material selected from the group consisting of polymers and copolymers having a thickness of 30-300 um, the diameter of the macropores having a value of 30-300 microns and the macroporosity being 30-80%.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
Artificial skin according to claim 1, wherein the non-porous top layer and the macroporous lower layer are produced from the same material.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
Artificial skin according to claim 2, wherein the non-porous top layer and the macroporous lower layer gradually merge into one another forming a single-layer film.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
Artificial skin according to claim 3, wherein the film thickness of the single-layer film is 100-300 um, the macroporosity thereof is 30-80% and the diameter of the macropores is 30-250 um.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
Artificial skin according to claim 1, wherein the poly(oxyethylene) glycol unit L has an average molecular weight of 750-1500.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
Artificial skin according to claim 5, wherein the poly(oxyethylene) glycol unit L has an average molecular weight of about 1000.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
Artificial skin according to claim 1, wherein R is essentially derived from terephthalic acid.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
Artificial skin according to claim 1, wherein E represents an alkylene group selected from the group consisting of --CH 2 --CH 2 --and--CH 2 --CH 2 --CH 2 --CH 2 --.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
Artificial skin according to claim 1, wherein the macroporous lower layer is produced from poly-L-lactic acid with a molecular weight of (5-100)10 4 .
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method of using the artificial skin of claim 1, including the step of providing the non-porous top layer of the artificial skin with autologous epithelial cells.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method according to claim 10, including the step of providing the non-porous top layer of the artificial skin with autologous keratinocytes.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method of using the artificial skin of claim 1, including the step of providing the porous lower layer of the artificial skin with autologous fibroblasts.