Method and apparatus for cleaning of viable donor soft tissue

1. A process for cleaning donor soft tissue to preserve the integrity of the soft tissue comprising:

obtaining a donor soft tissue;

mechanically removing external lipids and other organic material on the surface of the soft tissue;

cutting the soft tissue into the desired size and shape to form a tissue part;

placing tissue part and an absorbent material into a gas permeable package and sealing the package;

placing the package into a reactor pressure vessel;

introducing supercritical carbon dioxide fluid to the pressure vessel;

maintaining the tissue part in contact with the fluid while mechanically agitating the fluid for a time sufficient to impregnate the tissue part with carbon dioxide and to extract excessive organic matter from the tissue part; and

removing the tissue part from the package and separating from the absorbent material and rinsing the tissue part with a sterile solution.

2. The process for cleaning donor soft tissue of claim 1 wherein the supercritical carbon dioxide fluid is introduced and removed from the pressure vessel at a rate of from about 0.01 to 5 psi/second.

3. A process for cleaning donor soft tissue to preserve the integrity of the soft tissue comprising:

obtaining a donor soft tissue;

mechanically removing topical contaminants from the surface of the soft tissue;

placing the soft tissue and an absorbent material into a gas permeable package and sealing the package;

placing the package into a reactor pressure vessel;

introducing supercritical fluid into the pressure vessel;

maintaining contact between the supercritical fluid and the soft tissue in the package while mechanically agitating the fluid for a time sufficient to solubilize contaminants contained in the soft tissue and separate the contaminants from the soft tissue by absorption into the absorbent material; and

removing the package from the pressure vessel, separating the tissue from the absorbent material in the package and rinsing the tissue with a sterile solution.

4. The process for cleaning donor soft tissue of claim 3 wherein the supercritical fluid is introduced and removed from the pressure vessel at a rate of from about 0.01 to 5 psi/second.

5. The process for cleaning donor soft tissue of claim 3 wherein the supercritical fluid used is carbon dioxide.

6. A process for cleaning donor soft tissue to preserve the integrity of the soft tissue comprising:

obtaining a donor soft tissue;

placing the soft tissue and an absorbent material into a gas permeable package and sealing the package;

placing the package into a reactor pressure vessel;

introducing a supercritical extractant fluid capable of extracting excessive organic matter from the soft tissue into the pressure vessel;

maintaining contact between the supercritical extractant fluid and soft tissue for a time sufficient to impregnate the soft tissue with the supercritical extractant fluid and extracting excessive organic matter from the soft tissue; and

recovering the soft tissue from the package and separating the soft tissue from the absorbent material in the package.

7. The process for cleaning donor soft tissue of claim 6 wherein the supercritical fluid is introduced and removed from the pressure vessel at a rate of from about 0.01 to 5 psi/second.

8. The process for cleaning donor soft tissue of claim 6 wherein the supercritical fluid used is carbon dioxide.