In Vitro Assessment of the Biocompatibility of Bovine Tendon after Experimental Treatment for Human Ligament Prostheses

Damage to the tendon-ligament apparatus poses a serious threat for physical activity in humans. Most common are ruptures in physically healthy people with active lifestyles, for example, sportsmen. The treatment of these traumas in orthopedics and traumatology uses autoplastic surgery and implantation of prostheses made of synthetic and biological materials. Prostheses made of biological tissues are now of increasing interest, as qualitative treatment of materials to remove all biological components (apart from the collagen lattice) able to induce immune responses and consequent rejection allows biological structure and strength to be preserved. Bovine tendons have potential and availability for making such prostheses. The present report describes preparation of ligament prostheses using a processing method including mechanical treatment, chemical-physical treatment methods, and special processing with supercritical carbon dioxide fluid with nonionic surfactant Tween 80 to decellularize and extract organic components other than the collagen lattice with the aim of making the material biocompatible with preservation of its strength. The biocompatibility properties of a prototype human ligament prosthesis made from an accessible material (bovine tendon) were studied using in vitro models.