Bone growth enhancing implant

• US 8,679,189 B1
• Filed: 02/14/2013
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aerospace Corporation, BONE Pharm LLC
• Original Assignee: Aerospace Corporation, Amendia, Inc. (Spinal Elements, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ganey, Timothy, Livingston, Frank Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Stewart, Alvin J.
• Application Number:
  US13/767,055
• Time in Patent Office: 404 Days
• Field of Search: 623/23.49, 623 2372- 2376, 623/16.11, 623/11.11, 623/17.11, 623/17.16, 623/18.11
• US Class Current: 623/23.49
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/30767 Special external or bone-contacting surface, e.g. coating for improving bone ingrowth
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30052 differing in electric or magnetic properties
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2400/18 Modification of implant surfaces in order to improve biocompatibility, cell growth, fixation of biomolecules, e.g. plasma treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2430/02 for reconstruction of bones; weight-bearing implants
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2430/38 for reconstruction of the spine, vertebrae or intervertebral discs
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/16 obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/18 obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/303 Carbon
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 27/50 Materials characterised by their function or physical properties , e.g. injectable or lubricating compositions, shape-memory materials, surface modified materials
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 23/06 Polyethene
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 59/00 Compositions of polyacetals; Compositions of derivatives of polyacetals of polyvinyl acetals C08L29/14
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 67/00 Compositions of polyesters obtained by reactions forming a carboxylic ester link in the main chain of polyester-amides C08L77/12; of polyester-imides C08L79/08; Compositions of derivatives of such polymers
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 71/00 Compositions of polyethers obtained by reactions forming an ether link in the main chain of polyacetals C08L59/00; of epoxy resins C08L63/00; of polythioether-ethers C08L81/02; of polyether-sulfones C08L81/06; Compositions of derivatives of such polymers
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 81/06 Polysulfones; Polyethersulfones

Abstract

An implant device having a non-conductive base structure with at least two exposed or exterior surfaces wherein at least one of the exposed or exterior surfaces has attained electrical conductivity on at least portions of the surface by an energy exposure wherein portions of the exposed or exterior surfaces are transformed by the energy exposure to attain the electrical conductivity.

Claims

1. A bone growth enhancing implant device comprises:

a non-conductive base structure with at least two exposed or exterior surfaces wherein at least one of the exposed or exterior surfaces has attained electrical conductivity by creating or forming conductive paths or patterns of conductive networks on at least portions of the surface by an energy exposure wherein portions of the exposed or exterior surfaces are transformed by the energy exposure to attain the electrical conductivity at the conductive paths or patterns leaving the rest of the base structure not in the paths or patterns unaltered, wherein the base structure is preferably made of an organic carbon or hydrocarbon base material composition of a synthetically produced polymer of a plastic material.

2. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the non-conductive base structure received the energy exposure in the form of a spectrum of wavelengths in the visible or non-visible range sufficient to create a material composition change to the base structure at the exposed or exterior surfaces.

3. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the material composition changes from an organic non-conductive polymer to an amorphous carbon at the conductive path or pattern.

4. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 3 wherein a material composition change results in a formation of conductive carbon paths or patterns formed as channels of conductive carbon residue extending at the surface to a depth of 1 to 2 or more microns occurring at the conductive paths or patterns of conductive networks.

5. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 4 wherein the conductive paths are formed in interconnected networks to allow electrical current to flow along the surface.

6. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 5 wherein the paths are small, from a few microns up to several hundred microns wide and formed in discrete channels at the surface extending to a depth of a few microns.

7. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 6 wherein these conductive paths react electrically to the low voltages carried by cells to enhance new bone formation at the surface of the implant device.

8. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 7 wherein the paths have a resistivity under 500 ohms.

9. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 3 wherein the material composition change results in a formation of conductive carbon paths or patterns formed as channels of conductive carbon residue extending at the surface to a depth of 1 to 2 or more microns, and that resistivity is variable, variegated, and follows domains that offer electrodynamic topology.

10. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the body structure is made of an implantable grade synthetic plastic, which is a thermoplastic or thermoset material.

11. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 10 wherein the plastic material can be any implantable grade material such as PEEK (polyether ether ketone), PEKK (polyether ketone ketone), polyethylene, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, polyphenylsulfone, polysulfone, polythermide, acetal copolymer, polyester woven or solid or implantable grade lennite UHME-PE or other suitable implant material.

12. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the implant device includes anchoring holes to secure the device to the skeletal structure with fasteners or alternatively can simply be held in place by and between adjacent skeletal structures.

13. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the implant device is built by additive fabrication through a process offering reproducible and reconcilable formation to the istropic domains inherent to the marine mammal cancellous bone wherein, the internal structure is modeled for strength, neutralized for strain, and open to surface modification of its entire network of trabecular permutations.

14. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the energy used to create the conductive paths or patterns comes from a laser source.

15. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 14 wherein lasers provide such an energy source which occurs in a reduced oxygen environment so as to create discrete conductive paths in the absence of surface scorching, insuring the base structure is only made conductive at the paths or patterns leaving the rest of the base structure unaltered.

16. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the energy used to create the conductive paths or patterns comes from an acoustic source such as a focused acoustic lens, wherein the emitted wavelength can impinge the surface to create a chemical transformation to achieve conductive carbon residue paths or patterns.

17. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 1 wherein the enhanced implant device further comprises a 3-dimensional surface texture of voids at exposed surfaces that provide cell attachment locations in addition to the conductive paths wherein the combination accelerates new bone formation.

18. A bone growth enhancing implant device comprises:

a non-conductive base structure with at least two exposed or exterior surfaces wherein at least one of the exposed or exterior surfaces has attained electrical conductivity by creating or forming conductive paths or patterns of conductive networks on at least portions of the surface by an energy exposure wherein portions of the exposed or exterior surfaces are transformed by the energy exposure to attain the electrical conductivity at the conductive paths or patterns leaving the rest of the base structure not in the paths or patterns unaltered, wherein the implant device is a naturally occurring material such as an allograft bone tissue used for implantation in a mammal.

19. The bone growth enhancing implant device of claim 18 wherein the conductive paths have a resistivity under 500 ohms.

20. The bone growth enhancing implant device is made by a method having the steps of:

providing a non-conductive base structure of an implant having exterior or exposed surfaces; and

exposing at least one or more of the surfaces to an energy source to transform those surfaces of the base structure into electrically conductive paths or networks and leaving the rest of the base structure not in the paths or networks remain unaltered.

21. The method of claim 20 further includes the step of using a laser beam in an oxygen reduced environment to create amorphous carbon channels to form the conductive paths or networks.