Acellular matrix implants for treatment of articular cartilage, bone or osteochondral defects and injuries and method for use thereof

1. A method for treatment of injury of an articular cartilage and for repair and restoration of damaged, injured, diseased or aged cartilage to a functional hyaline cartilage, said method comprising steps:

a) preparing a three-dimesional acellular matrix implant wherein said acellular matrix implant is a sponge, porous scaffold, honeycomb scaffold, honeycomb lattice, gel, sol-gel or thermo-reversible hydrogel, said implant prepared from a material selected from the group consisting of a Type I collagen, a Type II collagen, a Type IV collagen, a polymer of an aromatic organic acid or a copolymer thereof, gelatin, a bioactive peptide, a growth factor, cytokine, polycaprolactone, polyamino acid, a gel, a sol-gel, a hydrogel, a thermo-reversible gelling hydrogel (TRGH), a copolymer thereof and a combination thereof;

b) depositing a layer of a biologically acceptable bottom sealant rapidly gelling for from 30 second to about 15 minutes from a flowable liquid or paste to a load-bearing gel over a bottom of an articular cartilage lesion to protect the lesion cavity from blood-borne agents, migrating cells and cell debris;

c) implanting said implant into an articular cartilage lesion cavity in situ;

d) depositing a layer of a biologically acceptable top sealant to seal the lesion cavity wherein said top sealant seals the implant within said cavity, protects the implant and promotes a formation of a superficial cartilage layer; and

wherein said top or bottom sealant is selected from the group consisting of gelatin and di-aldehyde starch mixture, 4-armed pentaerythritol tetra-thiol and polyethylene mixture, polyethylene glycol-co-poly(α-hydroxy acid) diacrylate, a mixture of a copolymer of polyethylene glycol with polylactide, polyglycolide, polyhydroxybutyrate or a polymer of aromatic organic acid, polyethylene glycol derivatized with succinimidyl ester or thiol, a cross-linked polyethylene glycol with collagen, and a cross-linked polyethylene glycol with methyl collagen.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said top or bottom sealant is the cross-linked polyethylene glycol with methyl collagen.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said gelling time of the top or bottom sealant is from 3 to 5 minutes.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said top or bottom sealant has an adhesive bonding peel strength between 10 N/m to 100 N/m and cohesive strength between 0.2 to 1.0 MPa.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said acellular matrix implant comprises a combination of a sponge, porous scaffold, honeycomb scaffold or a honeycomb lattice with a gel, a polypeptide gel, sol-gel, a thermo-reversible gelling hydrogel (TRGH), a polymer of an aromatic organic acid or a copolymer thereof.

6. The method of claim 2 suitable for treatment of the articular cartilage injury comprising steps:

a) preparation of the acellular matrix implant;

b) debridement of said lesion during the surgery;

c) preparation of the cartilage lesion for implantation of said implant, including a step of depositing the bottom sealant at the bottom of the cartilage lesion for sealing of said lesion and protecting the implant from migration of blood-borne agents, subchondral or synovial cells or cell debris;

d) implanting the implant into the lesion;

e) depositing the top sealant over the acellular matrix implant; and

f) following the surgery, subjecting an individual undergoing a surgery for repair of said lesion to a normal physical activity.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said acellular matrix implant is a biodegradable collagenous sponge, honeycomb sponge, collagenous porous scaffold, a polymer of an aromatic organic acid, a thermo-reversible gelation hydrogel (TRGH) or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said matrix implant or said bottom sealant additionally comprises matrix remodeling enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases, aggrecanases and cathepsins or wherein said enzymes, metalloproteinases, aggrecanases and cathepsins are added to the lesion cavity.

9. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising a step of debridement of the articular cartilage lesion.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising a step of optionally introducing enzymes, hormones, growth factors, proteins, peptides, mediators, or drugs promoting an endogenous production of these factors or mediators, into said sealed cavity, adding them to the bottom sealant, or generating conditions for their transport or transfer through the bottom sealant.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising a step of subjecting an individual undergoing a surgery for repair of said lesion to a normal physical activity.