The invention provides methodologies and apparatus for producing acellular
soft-tissue implants, both in small quantities and in commercializable
quantities. Such soft-tissue implants include vascular graft substitutes.
An acellular graft is produced by subjecting the tissue sample to an
induced pressure mediated flow of an extracting solution, followed by
inducing a pressure mediated flow of a treating solution, then washing
the treated tissue to produce the acellular graft. The acellular grafts
produced are uniform and non-immunogenic. The inventive method allows for
the production of multiple decellularized soft tissue implants, where
processing time is significantly less than prior art processes and the
number of implants produced per day is increased over prior art
processes. In clinical use, the decellularized grafts produced exhibit
significantly improved in long-term durability and function.