the present invention is useful for the hydration and rehydration of any number of different orthopedic graft materials , such as but not limited to allograft materials ( e . g ., human - based graft materials ), xenograft materials ( e . g ., non - human or animal - based graft materials ), and synthetic materials ( e . g ., ceramic graft materials such as calcium - based materials , calcium - phosphate - based materials , calcium - sulfate - based materials , calcium - sodium - phosphate - based materials , as well as many others ). these various orthopedic graft materials , especially the synthetic materials , can be shaped into any number of configurations , including but not limited to blocks , rings , struts , machined shapes , chips , morsels , granules , and so forth . furthermore , ceramic cements , such as but not limited to tetracalcium phosphate / tricalcium phosphate cement , calcium sodium phosphate cement , and calcium sulfate , may also be used as orthopedic graft materials . the powder portion would typically be mixed with a citric acid solution or a citrate salt solution in order to form a thick paste which hardens in 5 to 15 minutes . by the term “ orthopedic graft material ,” as that term is used herein , it is meant any orthopedic material that is capable of either being hydrated and / or rehydrated . by the term “ rehydrated ,” as that term is used herein , it is meant either hydrated and / or rehydrated . the hydrating and / or rehydrating material may be comprised of any number of aqueous - based liquids , such as water , saline , or the like . additionally , biologically active materials ( e . g ., therapeutic and / or prophylactic ), such as but not limited to antibiotics , platelet concentrates , bone growth factors , may be introduced into the hydrating and / or rehydrating material , or alternatively , may comprise a portion of , or the entire volume of , the hydrating and / or rehydrating material . referring now to fig1 – 3 , a packaging system for orthopedic materials is shown designated generally by the reference numeral 10 . the packaging system 10 is somewhat similar to the packaging systems described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 370 , 221 and 5 , 398 , 483 , the entire specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference . the packaging system 10 of the present invention primarily includes a preferably flexible container 12 , a divider or clamp 14 , a tubular portion 16 , a vacuum reservoir 18 , and an optional gas permeable membrane 20 . preferably , the optional gas permeable membrane 20 is also substantially liquid impermeable . by way of a non - limiting example , the material to be stored can be either substantially solid allograft materials ( fig1 ), morselized allograft materials ( fig1 a ), xenograft materials ( not shown ), synthetic materials ( fig1 b ), as well as other types of orthopedic graft materials . the container 12 preferably includes a front panel 22 and a rear panel 24 , each made of a thin generally impervious flexible film or laminate . the exact nature of the thin generally impervious flexible film or laminate to be used with the container 12 of the present invention depends upon the nature of the materials to be stored and the conditions under which the materials will be combined and used . for many applications and materials , films and / or laminates of polyethylene , fluoropolymer , nylon , ethyl vinyl alcohol , metal foil , laminated glass and various combinations of the foregoing materials may be used . however , it will be appreciated that other suitable materials may also be used as well . additionally , while the container 12 is shown as being substantially rectangular , it is to be understood that the present invention is applicable to flexible containers of other shapes , such as square , triangular or trapezoidal and may have curved edges . the panels 22 and 24 can be formed from a single sheet of flexible film sealed to each other at a bottom edge 26 and side edges 28 and 30 . as noted , the container 12 further includes a tubular portion 16 which is sealed along its continuous edge 32 similar to the edges 26 , 28 , and 30 . disposed within the tubular portion 16 is the vacuum reservoir device 18 , the purpose of which will be more fully explained herein . the clamp 14 is arranged to provide a temporary seal of the inner surfaces of the panels 20 and 22 to each other along a line extending from an initial point 34 on the sealed edge 28 to a terminal point 36 on the sealed edge 30 to form a first or upper compartment 38 and a second or lower compartment 40 . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the clamp 14 is preferably placed on the container 12 prior to being filled with either the liquid component or the orthopedic graft material component . referring to fig4 – 5 , the clamp 14 comprises a c - shaped outer retention member 42 and an i - shaped inner retention member 44 which partially fits within the hollow of the c - shaped outer retention member 42 . when the clamp 14 is assembled with respect to the container 12 as shown in fig5 , the outer retention member 42 is positioned on the outside of the rear panel 22 and the inner retention member 44 is positioned on the outside of the front panel 20 such that the panels 20 and 22 are pinched together along a pair of parallel lines extending from the initial point 34 to the terminal point 36 . the inner retention member 44 has a contoured upper end which fits within the inner hollow of outer retention member 42 and has a thickness substantially equal to the inner distance between the open ends of the c - shaped section of the outside retention member 42 so that a double thickness of panels 20 and 22 is tightly compressed along a pair of parallel lines to form an effective seal or divider . the outer retention member 42 is made of a resilient material so that the inner retention member 44 may be forced into position therein by placing it over the entire length of the opening of the outer retention member 42 and then pressing it into place . inner retention member 44 has a contoured upper end which can open the open ends of the c - shaped section of the outside retention member 42 to accommodate the inner retention member 44 . the nature of the clamp 14 may also vary . the clamp 14 described in connection with the present invention consisting of an i - shaped inner retention member 44 and a c - shaped outer retention member 42 , is preferred because of its simplicity and ease of handling . however , other types of clamps suitable for applying pressure to the container 12 may also be used . in addition , it is possible to replace the clamp 14 with an additional separation seal or divider ( not shown ). in this embodiment , the separation seal can be either a heat seal or an adhesive seal to separate the upper compartment 38 from the lower compartment 40 . the strength of this separation seal must be such that it can be broken by placing pressure on either of the compartments 38 and 40 without damaging the panels 20 and 22 . this separation seal may also be used in conjunction with the clamp 14 . the method of packaging the components of the orthopedic graft materials within the packaging 12 will now be described . the side edges 26 and 28 of the front panel 20 and the rear panel 22 are typically secured together by heat sealing , although other means of sealing may be used as well , such as adhesives . the clamp 14 is then placed over the front panel 20 and the rear panel 22 so as to form a temporary seal between the front panel 20 and the rear panel 22 and partially form the upper compartment 38 and the lower compartment 40 under environmentally controlled conditions . in certain circumstances , it will be necessary to position the orthopedic graft material d within the lower compartment 40 prior to heat sealing of the respective edges of the lower compartment 40 due , in part , to the size and configuration of the orthopedic graft material . in that circumstance , once the orthopedic graft material d is properly positioned , a heat seal then closes the lower compartment 40 . the container 12 is then sterilized employing gamma radiation , electron beam or other means . the liquid component l ( e . g ., water , saline , or the like ) is then filled into the upper compartment 38 under aseptic conditions and then the upper compartment 38 is closed by the seal 24 . however , it should be noted that it is not necessary that the liquid component l be added at the same time the orthopedic graft material d is introduced . for example , the liquid component l can be introduced immediately before the infusion process is to take place , for example , in the operating room . additionally , a port device 46 may be provided on the upper compartment 38 in order to introduce additional materials into the liquid component l ( via syringe 48 ), such as but not limited to biologically active materials , as shown in fig6 . preferably , the port device 46 is self - sealing , or is provided with a cap or similar device , so as to prevent any leakage problems . the main benefit of the present invention is that it provides a system for in situ mixing of the two components to produce a rehydrated orthopedic graft material . this is achieved by maintaining the lower compartment 40 under vacuum . this vacuum condition is facilitated by the presence of the vacuum reservoir 18 in the tubular portion 16 . the vacuum reservoir 18 preferably has a sufficiently large volume to take up the residual gases which will be replaced in the interstitial voids between the particles of the orthopedic graft material by the liquid component upon release or breaking of the seal between the first and second compartments . the purpose of the optional gas permeable membrane 20 is to allow air to be drawn out of the lower compartment 40 ( e . g ., during the creation of the vacuum condition ), while preventing any liquid or particulate matter from penetrating into the tubular portion 16 or leaving the graft material . the force which transfers the liquid component l into the second compartment 40 to combine with the orthopedic graft material component d is thus the pressure differential between the atmospheric pressure acting on the walls of the first compartment 38 and the pressure prevailing in the second compartment 40 . the function of the vacuum reservoir 18 is to maintain a sufficiently low pressure in the second compartment 40 until the orthopedic graft material component d has been completely and thoroughly infused by the liquid component l . once the clamp 14 has been removed , the liquid component l will rapidly flow into the second compartment 40 , completely and thoroughly infusing the orthopedic graft material component d , as shown in fig7 – 8 . once the infusion process is complete , the hydrated ( or rehydrated ) orthopedic graft material r will be ready for immediate implantation , as shown in fig9 – 10 following the infusion process , the container 12 holding the hydrated / rehydrated orthopedic graft material r is opened ( see fig1 ) and the hydrated / rehydrated graft material r is removed ( see fig1 ), preferably with a sterile instrument such as a forceps 50 , and is now ready for immediate affixation onto a bone defect , for example . referring to fig1 – 15 , a packaging system for orthopedic materials is shown designated generally by the reference numeral 60 . the packaging system 60 of the present embodiment includes a flexible container 62 , a divider or clamp 64 , and a tubular port 65 . disposed within the flexible container is a syringe 20 containing biocompatible material 67 of morselized allograph materials , xenograft materials , synthetic bone cement , or any other types of orthopedic graft materials . the container 62 contains a front panel 66 and a rear panel 68 . the exact nature of the layers 66 and 68 depend upon the nature of the materials to be stored and the nature of the environmental conditions the system 60 will be subject to . the container 62 further defines a proximal end 69 and a distal end 70 . disposed between the proximal end and distal ends 69 and 70 at a medial location 72 is the clamp 64 which functions as described above . defined between the clamp 64 and the proximal end 68 is a first cavity 74 which is configured to hold reconstitution liquid 76 . disposed between the clamp and a distal end 70 is a second cavity 78 which holds the syringe 20 . the second cavity 78 can optionally have a first portion 79 adjacent to the medial location 72 having a radius which comports to the outer diameter 71 of the syringe . in this regard , as described below , a body portion 82 of the syringe 20 functions to act as a fluid couple between the first cavity 74 and the second cavity 78 . the body 82 further acts as a vacuum reservoir 18 which obviates the need for a separate vacuum holding component . the first portion 79 functions to seal the syringe 20 to an internal surface of the container 62 . the vacuum reservoir 18 of the syringe 20 functions to provide a vacuum sufficient enough to remove any residual gases within the orthopedic material 67 or the reconstitution liquid . disposed at a proximal end 84 of the generally cylindrical body 82 is the orthopedic material 67 . disposed in the aperture 86 formed by the distal end 88 of the cylindrical body 82 is a plunger 90 . the plunger 90 has a cylindrical portion 92 which comports to an interior surface 94 of the cylindrical body 82 and further defines a plurality of through passages 94 a – 94 e , which function to allow gases to pass through the orthopedic material 67 into the second cavity 78 . optionally , the plunger has a locking device 91 which functions to resist the movement of the plunger 90 during the reconstitution of the orthopedic material 67 . this locking device 91 can take the form of foam or a releasable polymeric clasp . disposed between the plunger 90 and the orthopedic material 67 is a layer of gas permeable material 96 which functions to allow the air to flow through and out of the orthopedic material 67 into the second cavity 78 and into the vacuum reservoir device 18 as previously described . further , the gas permeable material 96 functions to prevent the reconstitution liquid from being drawn out of the orthopedic material or entering the body of the syringe 20 . optionally , a second gas and reconstitution liquid permeable membrane 97 can be disposed at the proximal end 84 of the syringe 20 so as to hold the orthographic material in the syringe 20 . the force needed to transfer the liquid into the syringe 20 to combine with the orthopedic material 67 is the difference between the atmospheric pressure acting on the first cavity 74 and the pressure within the cavity 78 . as previously described , the function of the vacuum reservoir 10 within the syringe 20 is to maintain a sufficiently low pressure in the second cavity 78 so as to allow the proper amount of liquid to be pulled into the orthopedic material 67 in the syringe 20 . the infusion of the orthopedic material 67 is shown in fig1 and 17 . it should be noted that the first cavity 74 can either be prepackaged with reconstitution fluid 76 , or can have the reconstitution fluid 76 injected through the port 65 . the use of the clamp 64 allows the mixing of various biological material such as platelets or antibiotics into the reconstitution liquid 76 prior to infusion . it additionally is envisioned that the reconstitution liquid can be injected directly into the port 65 without the use of the clamp 64 for direct rehydration of the material 67 . once rehyrdration is complete , the orthopedic material 67 is ready for implantation . as is shown in fig1 , the syringe is removed from the container 62 . the locking device 91 is removed from the plunger 90 . the plunger 90 can now be used to implant the orthopedic material 67 or bone cement material as is needed . it is envisioned that injection heads ( not shown ) can be coupled to the syringe 20 to assist in the interoperative use of the orthopedic material 67 or the bone cement . the foregoing description is considered illustrative only of the principles of the invention . furthermore , because numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art , it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and process shown as described above . accordingly , all suitable modifications and equivalents that may be resorted to that fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims that follow .
a vacuum package system for hydrating and / or rehydrating orthopedic graft materials , such as allograft materials , xenograft materials , and synthetic materials , is described . the system primarily includes a container , which includes a dividing device for dividing the container into first and second compartments and for isolating the compartments from one another , the first compartment containing a liquid component and the second compartment containing either dry porous and / or dehydrated orthopedic graft material under vacuum with a tubular member . the elongated tubular member extends from , and is in communication with , the second compartment . the tubular portion defines vacuum reservoir device is disposed within the first compartment and is in communication with the second compartment . the vacuum reservoir device is capable of taking up substantially all residual interstitial gases and thereby ensuring thorough infusion of the liquid component into the orthopedic graft material component upon release of the dividing device so as to form either a hydrated and / or rehydrated orthopedic graft material . an optional gas permeable but liquid impermeable membrane is disposed between the second compartment and the pocket portion .