Hybrid biologic/synthetic porous extracellular matrix scaffolds

1. A method of making an implantable scaffold for repairing or regenerating body tissue, the method comprising the steps of:

cutting a naturally occurring extracellular matrix in the presence of a liquid to produce a cohesive mass of intertwined strips, ribbons, or fibers;

contacting a synthetic polymer with the cohesive mass to make a composition comprising the cohesive mass and the polymer;

freezing the composition comprising the cohesive mass and the polymer to form a frozen composition, said frozen composition comprising crystals, and

driving off the crystals to form a foam.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of centrifuging the cohesive mass to compact the cohesive mass prior to the step of contacting the synthetic polymer with the cohesive mass.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the naturally occurring extracellular matrix is selected from the group consisting of small intestinal submucosa, stomach submucosa, bladder submucosa, alimentary submucosa, respiratory submucosa, genital submucosa, and liver basement membrane.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic polymer is formed as a mat, and said contacting step comprises coating the mat with the cohesive mass to form a coated mat, prior to the freezing step.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the coating step comprises immersing the mat in the cohesive mass.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the coating step includes placing the cohesive mass onto the mat and centrifuging the mat.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of driving a needle into the coated mat.

8. A method of making an implantable scaffold comprising the steps of:

comminuting a naturally occurring extracellular matrix in a liquid to form ribbon-like pieces of the naturally-occurring extracellular matrix suspended in the liquid and intertwining said ribbon-like pieces of the naturally-occurring extracellular matrix by mixing to form a cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix;

contacting the cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix with synthetic polymers to form a composition comprising a cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix layer, a synthetic polymer layer and a transition zone comprising both the cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix and synthetic polymers;

freezing the composition to form a frozen composition, said frozen composition comprising crystals, and

driving off the crystals to form a foam.

9. A method of making an implantable scaffold comprising the steps of:

cutting a naturally occurring extracellular matrix in the presence of a liquid to produce a cohesive mass of intertwined strips, ribbons, or fibers;

coating a synthetic polymer mat with the cohesive mass;

freezing the coated mat to form a frozen composition, said frozen composition comprising crystals, and

driving off the crystals to form a foam coated mat.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the steps of:

mixing a composition comprising synthetic polymers with the cohesive mass; and

coating the synthetic mat with the mixture.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the naturally occurring extracellular matrix is selected from the group consisting of small intestine submucosa, stomach submucosa, bladder submucosa, alimentary submucosa, respiratory submucosa, genital submucosa, and liver basement membrane.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the naturally occurring extracellular matrix is selected from the group consisting of small intestine submucosa, stomach submucosa, bladder submucosa, alimentary submucosa, respiratory submucosa, genital submucosa, and liver basement membrane.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of allowing the cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix layer and the synthetic polymer layer to expand and mix with each other for a length of time prior to the freezing step to increase the width of the transition zone.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of crosslinking the components of the foam.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driving off step is performed by lyophilization of the frozen composition comprising the cohesive mass and the polymer.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of adding an exogenous biologically active agent.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the biologically active agent is added prior to the freezing step.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the biologically active agent is added after the step of driving off the crystals.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of shaping the foam.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the naturally occurring extracellular matrix comprises small intestine submucosa.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the strips, ribbons, or fibers are about 200 microns thick and 1-5 mm long.

22. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of centrifuging the cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix, removing the supernatant, and contacting the resulting compacted, cohesive naturally occurring extracellular matrix with the synthetic polymer-comprising composition.

23. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of centrifuging the cohesive mass, removing the supernatant, and mixing the resulting compacted, cohesive mass with the synthetic polymer mat.

24. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of crosslinking the components of the foam.

25. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of crosslinking the components of the foam.

26. The method of claim 8 , wherein the driving off step is performed by lyophilization of the frozen composition.

27. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of adding an exogenous biologically active agent.

28. A method of making an implantable scaffold for repairing or regenerating body tissue, the method comprising the steps of:

i) obtaining small intestine submucosa from an animal;

ii) placing said small intestine submucosa into water;

iii) cutting said small intestine submucosa into strips or fibers, wherein said strips or fibers intertwine;

iv) contacting a synthetic polymer with said intertwined strips of small intestine submucosa to produce a composition comprising said synthetic polymer and said intertwined strips of small intestine submucosa; and

v) freeze-drying said composition to yield an implantable scaffold.