Medical devices comprising a reticulated composite material

• US 20070003753A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cinvention AG
• Original Assignee: Cinvention AG
• Inventors: Asgari, Soheil
• Application Number:
  US11/479,658
• Publication Number:
  US 20070003753A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/315.500
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/28 Materials for coating prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/446 with other specific inorganic fillers other than those covered by A61L27/443 or A61L27/46
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/48 with macromolecular fillers
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/56 Porous materials, e.g. foams or sponges
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 31/10 Macromolecular materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 31/127 containing fillers of phosphorus-containing inorganic materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 31/146 Porous materials, e.g. foams or sponges
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/249978 Voids specified as micro

Abstract

The present invention relates to medical devices, particularly for therapeutic and/or diagnostic purposes, which may coated or at least partially formed using porous reticulated composite materials. Specifically, the present invention relates to medical devices which include a porous composite material, where the composite material can be formed using a process comprising the steps of providing a liquid mixture that includes at least one inorganic and/or organic reticulating agent; and at least one matrix material that is a polymer or combination of polymers; and solidifying the liquid mixture.

Claims

1. A medical device comprising:

a porous composite material which comprises at least one reticulating agent and at least one matrix material, wherein the at least one matrix material comprises at least one organic polymer.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent is embedded in the at least one matrix material.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the composite material is capable of being obtained by:

providing a liquid mixture which further comprises the at least one reticulating agent and the at least one matrix material, and

solidifying the liquid mixture.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a coating which covers at least a portion of the device, wherein the coating comprises the porous composite material.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has a reticulated structure.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent has a form of a plurality of particles.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the particles are at least one of nanocrystalline particles or microcrystalline particles.

8. The device of claim 6, wherein the at least one reticulating agent comprises at least two particle size fractions, and wherein the particle size fractions differ in size from one another by a factor of at least 1.1.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the particle size fractions differ in size from one another by a factor of at least 2.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the reticulating agent has a form of at least one of a tube, a fiber or a wire.

11. The device of claim 10, where the at least one reticulating agent has a portion which includes a form of a particle.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent comprises an inorganic material.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the at least one reticulating agent further comprises at least one organic material.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent comprises at least one of a magnetic metal, a superparamagnetic metal or a ferromagnetic metal, and wherein the reticulating agent further comprises at least one of iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, an iron-platinum mixture, an iron-platinum alloy, a metal oxide, a magnetite of at least one of iron, cobalt, nickel or manganese, or a ferrite of at least one of iron, cobalt, nickel or manganese.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent comprises at least one of a particulate organic material or an organic fiber.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one organic polymer comprises at least one of a synthetic homopolymer of at least one of an aliphatic polyolefin or an aromatic polyolefin, a synthetic copolymer of at least one of an aliphatic polyolefin or an aromatic polyolefin, or a biopolymer.

17. The device of claim 1, further comprising an implant that is suitable for insertion into a human body or an animal body.

18. The device of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material further comprises at least one active agent, and wherein the at least one active agent comprises at least one of a biologically active agent, a therapeutically active agent, or an agent that is capable of being used for a diagnostic purpose.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the device is capable of controllably releasing the at least one active agent in the presence of a physiologic fluid.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein at least one of the at least one reticulating agent or the at least one active agent comprises at least one of a marker, a contrast medium, or a radiopaque material.

21. The device of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material further comprises at least one further additive which includes at least one of fillers, surfactants, acids, bases, pore-forming agents, plasticizers, lubricants, or flame resistants.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent comprises a material that is capable of forming a network-type structure.

23. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one reticulating agent comprises at least one of soot, a fullerene, a carbon fiber, silica, titanium dioxide, a metal particle, a tantalum particle, or a polyethylene particle;

and wherein the organic polymer comprises at least one of an epoxy resin or a phenoxy resin.

24. The device of any one of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has an average pore size of at least about 1 nm.

25. The device of any one of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has an average pore size of at least about 10 nm.

26. The device of any one of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has an average pore size of at least about 100 nm.

27. The device of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has an average pore size between about 1 nm to about 400 μ

m.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has an average pore size between about 500 nm to about 1000 μ

m.

29. The device of claim 1, wherein the porous composite material has an average porosity between about 30% and about 80%.