Patents by Inventor Laurace E. Townsend

Laurace E. Townsend has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method of isolation, culture and proliferation of human atrial myocytes
    Patent number: 5543318
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods for isolating and culturing human myocardiocytes from adult human atrial tissue and proliferating cultures resulting therefrom. In one embodiment, the myocardial cells are substantially dissociated through sequential enzymatic digestion and plated on growth medium selective for myocardial cell growth. In another embodiment, the atrial tissue is subjected to only limited digestion to provide an explant tissue portion which is cultured under conditions favoring cell proliferation. Cells migrating from the explant are isolated and subjected to time-based selective attachment and selective growth techniques which result in a myocardial cell culture of approximately 93% purity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1996
    Inventors: David A. Smith, Laurace E. Townsend
  • Apparatus and method for seeding endothelial cells
    Patent number: 5492826
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for culturing living endothelial cells is provided. The apparatus comprises a cell growth container, which in a preferred embodiment is a synthetic graft, heat crimped at both ends. The apparatus further comprises a rotation container that may contain the cell growth container and is attached to a rotation apparatus. The apparatus further comprises fixturing apparatus, which in a preferred embodiment is a pair of o-ring members, that enhances a separated condition of the cell growth container within the rotation container. The method of the present invention comprises providing a culture that includes living cells and a growth medium, introducing the culture into a cell growth container, heat crimping the cell growth container to substantially seal the cell growth container, and positioning fixturing apparatus upon the external surface of the cell growth container. This assembly is inserted into a rotation container, which is rotated by a rotation apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 20, 1996
    Assignee: William Beaumont Hospital
    Inventors: Laurace E. Townsend, Michael J. E. Borrelli, Diane E. Maupin
  • Method and test kits for identifying Alzheimer's disease by testing cerebrospinal fluid
    Patent number: 5486460
    Abstract: A method for aid in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in patients exhibiting the Alzheimer's characteristic dementia is described. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) suspected of containing amyloid particles is removed from a patient, living or deceased, concentrated and then stained to determine a count of such particles per unit volume. The method provides a means for confirming Alzheimer's disease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 23, 1996
    Assignee: Wayne State University
    Inventor: Laurace E. Townsend