Collagen material and method for producing collagen material

Abstract

A collagen material is characterized in being constituted of a collagen gel fragment wherein a shape of the collagen gel fragment is a string and the string collagen gel fragments couple with each other by drying, and the collagen gel fragments have orientation obtained by giving a flow of a fixed direction to collagen solution during a process of gelating a collagen solution. A method of producing a collagen material comprises a step for preparing a string collagen gel formed and orientated by collagen solution being extruded through a nozzle into a container containing a phosphate buffered saline, and giving a flow of a fixed direction to the collagen solution wherein a shape of the collagen gel is a string and the direction of the orientation of the string collagen gel is a direction of the string shape, a step for obtaining multiple string collagen gels wherein the orientation are controlled, a step for arranging the multiple collagen gels in a desired shape, and a step for drying the multiple collagen gels arranged in the desired shape to couple with the collagen gels each other.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A collagen material characterized in being constituted of a collagen gel fragment wherein a shape of the collagen gel fragment is a string and the string collagen gel fragments couple with each other by drying, and the collagen gel fragments have orientation obtained by giving a flow of a fixed direction to collagen solution during a process of gelating a collagen solution. 
     
     
         2 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein the material further includes a collagen gel fragment with no orientation. 
     
     
         3 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein the collagen gel fragment comprises both the collagen gel fragment having orientation and the collagen gel fragment having no orientation. 
     
     
         4 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein the orientation is an uniaxial orientation, a spiral orientation, a double axis orientation, a two⋅dimensional orientation, a triaxial orientation, or a three-dimensional orientation. 
     
     
         5 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein a part or all of the collagen gel fragment is coated on a substrate comprising metal, ceramics, high-polymer material or biomaterial. 
     
     
         6 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein the collagen gel fragment includes a cell growth promotant. 
     
     
         7 . A collagen material according to  claim 6 , wherein the cell growth promotant is Epidermal growth factor (EGF), Insulin-like growth factor (IGF), Transforming growth factor (TGF), Nerve growth factor (NGF), Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Vesicular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), Granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), Erythropoietin (EPO), Thrombopoietin (TPO), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF or FGF2), or Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). 
     
     
         8 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein a shape of the material is a ribbon, a sheet, a tube, a sponge, a grain, a rod, a ring, a spiral, a spring, a disk, a dome or a block. 
     
     
         9 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein the material is designed so as to become almost equal to the orientation of each site of a normal tissue from a living organism. 
     
     
         10 . A collagen material according to  claim 1 , wherein the material contains oxygen. 
     
     
         11 . A method of producing a collagen material, wherein the method comprises:
 a step for preparing a string collagen gel formed and orientated by collagen solution being extruded through a nozzle into a container containing a phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and giving a flow of a fixed direction to the collagen solution wherein a shape of the collagen gel is a string, and the direction of the orientation of the string collagen gel is a direction of the string shape,   a step for obtaining multiple string collagen gels wherein the orientation are controlled,   a step for arranging the multiple collagen gels in a desired shape, and   a step for drying the multiple collagen gels arranged in the desired shape to couple with the collagen gels each other.   
     
     
         12 . A method of producing a collagen material according to  claim 11 , wherein the desired shape is a planar shape and/or a three-dimensional shape. 
     
     
         13 . A method of producing a collagen material according to  claim 11 , wherein the desired shape is a ribbon, a sheet, a tube, a rod, a ring, a spiral, a disk, a dome or a block. 
     
     
         14 . A method of producing a collagen material according to  claim 11 , wherein the step for drying the collagen gels is carried out by freeze dry.