Antimicrobial implant

Abstract

A method of building an orthopedic implant including the steps of mixing a powder having antimicrobial properties with a biocompatible powder to form a mixture. Next, the mixture is deposited on top of a substrate. The substrate may be part of the finished product or only a work platform. The mixture layer is then selectively melted.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to antimicrobial implants and methods of manufacturing the same.

It has become common to treat a variety of medical conditions by introducing an implantable medical device partly or completely into the human body. For example, orthopedic devices are commonly inserted into joints such as the knee, spine, shoulder and the like. Additional orthopedic devices are often implanted adjacent bone such as metal plates during fracture repair and spinal rods for the re-alignment of the spine. Many other implants are used for implantation into the esophagus, trachea, colon, biliary tract, urinary tract, vascular system or other locations within a human or even a veterinarian patient.

One disadvantage associated with implantable medical devices is microbial adhesion. Microbial adhesion occurs when unwanted parasites adhere to the orthopedic implant either during implantation or afterwards.

Microbial adhesion to the surface of an implant device that eventually lead to biomaterials-related infections is a well recognized complication of implant materials and devices. Once adhesion has occurred, proliferation of the microbial agents leads to the development of a biofilm, which is unsusceptible to most therapeutic agents at achievable concentrations. Thus, the course of microbial infection involves three major steps: microbial adhesion; microbial proliferation; and formation of a bacterial bio-film.

Unfortunately, only a few materials, as for instance, gold, silver or copper, show toxicity against microorganisms and biofilm formation. Gold, silver and copper ions are believed to have broad spectrum anti-microbial activity. Of all the metal ions, silver exhibits a high toxicity for microorganisms and is one of the least toxic to animal cells. Still, silver ion concentrations higher than 10 mg/l may be toxic to certain human cells.

It has therefore been known in the art to apply an antimicrobial coating that includes metal ions and specifically silver at low concentrations to combat microbial adhesion.

Still, additional antimicrobial compositions and different ways for incorporating the antimicrobial with orthopedic implants are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a method of building an orthopedic implant including the steps of mixing a powder having antimicrobial properties with a biocompatible powder to form a mixture. Next, the mixture is deposited on top of a substrate. The substrate may be part of the finished product or only a work platform. The mixture layer is then selectively melted.

The method may also include depositing at least one additional layer of mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer. The powder is preferably silver in one aspect of the present invention. The silver may be approximately between 0.05% to 9.0% of the mixture. The steps of depositing at least one additional layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer of the mixture and repeating until an orthopedic implant is built.

The method may include depositing at least one layer of biocompatible powder onto either the substrate or a previous layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one layer of biocompatible powder. The deposited layers of mixture maybe selectively melted to obtain a component having a predetermined porosity at predetermined locations.

In an alternate embodiment, the method of building an orthopedic implant may include the steps of forming a layer of material that includes a biocompatible powder and an antimicrobial powder; and selectively melting the layer of material at predetermined locations. The steps are preferably repeated at least once. The step of forming the layer of material may include depositing the antimicrobial powder and biocompatible powder simultaneously. The method may further include depositing a layer of biocompatible powder adjacent the layer of material that includes the biocompatible material and antimicrobial powder, and selectively melting the layer of biocompatible powder. The layer of biocompatible material and antimicrobial is deposited onto a portion of an orthopedic implant. The selectively melting of the product may be done by a high energy source such as a laser or e-beam.

In an alternate embodiment, a method of building an orthopedic implant includes the steps of depositing a biocompatible material and selectively melting the biocompatible material and depositing an antimicrobial material and selectively melting the antimicrobial material.

The present invention also includes an orthopedic implant having a biocompatible material fused to an antimicrobial material, wherein the antimicrobial material retains its elemental characteristics. The antimicrobial material may be substantially disposed throughout the orthopedic implant. And may be less than less than 9% of a total composition of the orthopedic implant.

In yet another alternate embodiment, a method of building an orthopedic implant includes the steps of forming a particle mixture containing biocompatible particles and particles having antimicrobial properties; and spraying the particle mixture at a predetermined high velocity toward at least one portion of a surface of a substrate so as to enable a layer of the reactive material to accumulate on the at least one portion of the surface of the substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an SEM image of an antimicrobial powder used in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus used in connection with the present invention;

FIGS. 3A-4C are various views of coupons built using one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the steps of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a bar graph presenting results of an elemental analysis experiment;

FIG. 7 is a bar graph presenting results of another elemental analysis experiment;

FIG. 8 is bar graph presenting results of a cytotoxicity test after a first time interval;

FIG. 9 is a bar graph presenting results of the cytotoxicity test for which the results were presented in FIG. 8 after a second time interval;

FIG. 10 is a bar graph presenting results of another cytotoxicity test;

FIG. 11 is a bar graph presenting the number of titanium ions released during cytotoxicity tests as determined by a dissolution rate test;

FIG. 12 is a bar graph presenting the number of silver ions released during cytotoxicity tests as determined by a dissolution rate test; and

FIG. 13 is a bar graph presenting the results of an optical density test.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention combines a rapid manufacturing technique such as “Selective Laser Melting” (S.L.M.) with an antimicrobial material. Selective Laser Melting is often employed to produce devices, which may be implanted within a patient. According to the present invention, the Selective Laser Melting or Sintering Techniques commonly known, are modified so as to incorporate a metal, such as silver, into a build structure of the implantable device. The Selective Laser Melting or Sintering Processes may be similar to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/704,270 and 11/027,421, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Generally speaking, SLM includes depositing a layer of powder onto a plate or substrate and selectively melting pre-determined locations of the layer of powder. A subsequent layer of powder is deposited onto the previous layer of powder and also subjected to selective lasering. This layer-by-layer depositing and selectively lasering technique is repeated until a component part, such as an orthopedic implant, is built. Often, the powder employed is titanium or a similar biocompatible metal.

The component part may have a relatively high density such that only the exterior of the component part is subjected to external forces. However, in certain embodiments the component part may have a porosity and specifically a porosity that promotes bone ingrowth. A porous component part enables a larger surface area of the component part to interact with the outside environment of the component part. For instance if an orthopedic implant built with silver and titanium is completely dense only the silver positioned adjacent the exterior surface of the component part will provide an antimicrobial effect. But if the component part is porous, such as that described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/704,270 and 11/027,421, the silver throughout the component part may aid in providing an antimicrobial treatment.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a batch of titanium powder was intermixed with a batch of silver powder, such that each layer of the orthopedic implant includes titanium and silver intermixed. Of course, the composition of each layer is dependant on the amount of silver powder and titanium powder mixed as well as whether a complete mixing of the two elements was performed. The characteristics of the titanium powder used for the composition are illustrated in Tables 1, 2 and 3, listed below.

TABLE 1
Composition and Size Distribution of Titanium Powder
	Material
	description	Specification	Size
	CpTi Grade 2 powder	ASTM B 348/RP	−45 microns
		5003 Rev. 1

TABLE 2
Chemical Composition of Titanium Powder
	Element
	N2	C	H2	Fe	O2	Al	V	Sn	Mo	Cu	Zr
Required, %	<0.03	<0.1	<0.015	<0.3	<0.25	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .
Results, %	0.001	0.01	0.0015	0.04	0.11	0.04	0.01	0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
	Element
	Mn	Ni	Cr	Y	Si	Pd	W	Titanium
Required %	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	Balance
Results, %	<0.01	0.02	0.01	0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	Balance

TABLE 3
Size distribution
Size distribution	Required, %	Results, %
+45	Max. 5	3.0
−45	Min. 95	97.0

As can be ascertained by a review of Table 2, the powder employed includes various other elements such as nitrogen, carbon, helium, and the like, but at relatively low levels. The titanium powder makes up more than 99% of the chemical composition.

In addition, Table 3 illustrates that 97% of the individual “beads” in the titanium powder are less than 45 while only 3% of the batch included microns of titanium beads greater than 45 microns.

The batch of silver powder was then combined with the titanium powder so as to form a mixture. The properties and particle size distribution of the silver powder is shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4
Properties of Silver Powder
Physical data:
Tap Density - standard test:- 3.4 grams/cc
Surface Area: 2.71 m2/gm
Losses: As you heat it up lose H2O
110° C. loss - 1 hour in air: 0.13
538° C. loss - ½ hour in air: 0.43%%
Particle size distribution:
95%: 0.55 μm
90%: 0.45 μm
50%: 0.30 μm
10%: 0.21 μm

As illustrated in Table 4, a certain percentage of the silver by weight is lost as the silver is heated. This is a result of water loss during a heating process. The particle size distribution is interpreted in that 95% of the silver particles are less than 55 Microns, 90% are less than 46 Microns, and so forth.

FIG. 1 illustrates an SEM image of the silver powder mixture used in the process. The preparation of the titanium-silver mixture was conducted in a ball mill. First, the batches of titanium and silver powder were mixed in a cylinder of the ball mill. The cylinder was then sealed with black tape so that the powder was prevented from escaping. Once the cylinder was properly placed, the ball mill machine was switched on, and allowed to run for numerous hours. The extended length of the ball milling process was preferred in order to make sure a complete homogenous mixture of the titanium and silver powder was reached. The specifications of the milling process are listed below in Table 5.

TABLE 5
Powder Mixing Parameters
Type of the ball mill      Planetary
Cylinder height            230 mm
Cylinder diameter          75 mm
Rotational speed           60 rpm
Milling time               ~17 hours
Size of balls in ball mill 10-20 mm diameter
No. of balls used          18

Once the titanium-silver powder was prepared, various parts such as coupons were manufactured using the mixed powder in the SLM process. The coupons have rectangular shapes with a height of 9 mm, a width of 9.5 mm and a thickness of 3 mm. The manufacturing of the coupons was conducted using an SLM machine and MCP Realizer, which is a product of Mining and Chemical Products, Ltd.

The principal operation of the machine is illustrated in FIG. 2. During the manufacturing process, a layer of the mixed powder 10 is placed on a substrate or plate 12. The substrate or plate 12 may be part of the finished product or only a preparation platform for the finished product. Once a layer of powder 10 has been deployed, a laser 14 scans the powder at pre-determined locations. Various computer programs and the like may be utilized during this process to control and direct the laser. This process used for manufacturing the coupons was conducted in a chamber that was sealed from the outside environment and made inert by argon gas. The gas pressure of the chamber was reduced to approximately 30 mbar. The manufacturing parameters were controlled by the software FUSCO, a machine operating system, which is incorporated into the SLM machine. The process parameters employed for making the various coupons are shown in Table 6. For example, 6 groups of coupons were constructed. Approximately 40 coupons were built, each containing different percentages of silver mixed in with the titanium powder.

Group I—Titanium parts with no Ag

Group II—Titanium parts with 0.05% Ag

Group II—Titanium parts with 0.1% Ag

Group IV—Titanium parts with 0.25% Ag

Group V—Titanium parts with 1% Ag.

Group VI—Titanium parts with one surface being covered with 0.25% Ag plus titanium

Groups I-V represent different levels of silver in the compound and where processed using the SLM technique. Group VI was also processed by the SLM process but received a coating of the silver-titanium using a cold spray process. In the cold spray process employed the coupon was produced using the SLM procedure but with pure titanium. Next, powder containing both silver particles and titanium particles was disposed on the surface of the coupons using a cold spray process as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/325,790 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

In alternate embodiment, the total construct of the coupons could have been produced using the cold spray process. Of course different portions of the total construct could be produced with different types of powder to give the construct an uneven blend of titanium and silver powder.

In both the cold spray process and the selective laser melting or sintering process the silver maintains its elemental characteristics. And as such does not form an alloy with the titanium or any other metal that may be used. If an alloy was formed, the effectiveness of the silver to act as an antimicrobial agent will be reduced.

TABLE 6
Laser                  Yttrium doped fiber laser
                       (wavelength: 1.06 μm)
Power                  30 W
Dwell time             5500 μs
Spot size              30 μm
Thickness of one layer 75 μm
No. of layers          128
Gas pressure           O2 - 0.2%; Pressure - 27 mbar
Process duration       ~3.5 hrs

Once completed, the collected coupons were then cleaned by an ultrasonic bath cleaning using a detergent. The cleaning process was carried out for approximately 30 minutes. The cleaned coupons were then washed with acetone and dried. As shown in FIGS. 3A-D and FIGS. 4A-C, the various coupons have a lattice-like structure with a pre-determined porosity.

With reference to FIG. 5, a flow-chart is used to illustrate the various steps for preparing the coupons.

Once the coupons were constructed, as well as during construction, four different types of tests were performed: elemental analysis; cytotoxicity; dissolution rate test; and biofilm assay.

First, the elemental analysis was conducted for the various materials and parts. The analysis was carried out by Inductivity Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry “ICPMS” to determine: the composition of the blended powder; the composition of the processed parts; and the concentration of ions in the physiological solutions at various time intervals to determine the rate of silver ion leaching.

Two sets of data are presented, each representing two different elemental analysis experiments. For example, FIG. 6 includes coupons that were constructed using a mixed Ti/Ag powder where the powder ratio includes silver powder in the range of 0.1-1.0%. FIG. 7 includes data regarding coupons that were constructed with a powder that contained 0 to 0.25% of silver.

The data shows that within each of the groups the amount of silver is reduced during the process from the initial amount of silver powder contained within the intermixed powder to the final percentage of silver in a built part. When considering the final formulation therefore, these expected losses together with other expected losses through post-treatment operations must be taken into consideration in order to attain the desired silver contained in the finished product.

Next, a cytotoxicity test was used to determine the compatibility of the titanium-silver processed coupons with L929 fibroblast; and secondly to distinguish the effect of different percentages of silver within the blended powder on the behavior of the cells. Extracts of the various coupons containing different percentages of silver were added to the fibroblast cells. MTT assay, which measures cell proliferation, was used in this study. Once the MTT is added to the cell culture, it is modified into a dye by enzymes associated with the metabolic activity of the live cells, and the density of this dye is monitored using a spectrometer at a specified wavelength. A ratio of 0.1 g/ml was used for preparing the extract solutions with water being added to 0.1 g of each extract to achieve 1 ml solutions. This ratio was taken from the standard ISO 10993-12:20004-biological evaluation of medical devices: part 12: sample preparation and reference materials. The resultant solutions were then put into individual wells on a plate.

FIGS. 8 and 9 represent the data produced by the MTT assays on L929 fibroblasts with the extracts of the different groups of titanium-silver SLM samples. The two figures represent the normalized data for the different time conditions and different groups. The X-axis of each figure corresponds to the different extracted groups per plate. The dotted lines in each figure give an indication of cell proliferation. Anything below the lines indicates that cells are not proliferating.

FIG. 8 illustrates the metabolic activity of L929 fibroblasts after 1 day while FIG. 9 represents the same experiment after days.

FIG. 8 illustrates that the 1 day extracts of SLM samples with silver did not induce any cytotoxic effect. It was observed that there was an increase on the metabolic activity of the L929 fibroblasts, which is closely related to the number of live cells per well.

Similarly, FIG. 9 illustrates that the samples did not induce any cytotoxic effect after days. And it was observed that there was an increase on the metabolic activity of the L929 fibroblasts. Coupons with 0% Ag and 0.25% Ag had similar effects on the metabolic activity of the fibroblasts. Coupons with 0.05% Ag and 0.1% Ag groups demonstrated a similar pattern in relation to the metabolic activity of the L929 fibroblasts as shown from Group 50 (50% Dilution) in FIG. 9. The coupons with 0.25% Ag coated Ti SLM samples had a similar metabolic effect to the controls (dotted line) at its lower dilutions. At its 50% dilution (highest concentrated extract) the group of coated samples induced a cytotoxic effect to the fibroblasts.

A comparison between the 1 and 7 days extracts showed a similar pattern, with all the groups being compatible with the L929 fibroblasts at both time periods. On a more detailed approach it was observed that the coupons with 0% Ag and 0.25% Ag stimulated a similar effect to the metabolic activity of the fibroblasts. These groups showed a higher cytocompatible effect with the 7-days extracts than with the 1-day extracts. Thus, the extraction time for these groups is an important factor for their cytocompatibility properties. However, the coupons containing the 0.05% Ag, 0.1% Ag and the 0.25% Ag coating groups caused different effects on the metabolic activity of the cells at the two time periods. The metabolic activity of the fibroblasts in contact with the 7-days extracts of the above groups was decreased in comparison with the 1 day extracts of the same groups.

Other research groups similarly support findings of this study such that not only are the coupons not cytotoxic but they are in favor of increasing the cell behavior comparison with their control group.

Cytotoxicity tests were also carried on the range of coupons that included silver compositions extending from 0.1 to 1.0%. This data for 1 and days contact with fibroblasts is illustrated in FIG. 10.

The control group (L929 fibroblasts in medium) was the ideal environment for the cells. The cells were growing and proliferating on the surface of the wells. Conversely, latex the positive control, provided hostile environment for cell proliferation. The columns in FIG. 10 that extend above that of the control columns indicate that that there was an increase in the number of cells i.e. the cells were proliferating. The environment was favorable to cell growth and the cells were compatible with the environment of the extract group. The columns that are below the control columns in FIG. 10 indicate that there was an inhibitory effect on the behavior of the cells. The environment was aggressive for cell growth. Cells did not proliferate as the cells were not compatible with the environment.

One day and seven days extracts containing 0.1% Ag did not show any cytotoxicity. And one day extracts containing 1.0% Ag also did not show any cytotoxicity.

When the test was conducted for 7 days on the same extracts, there was mild cytotoxicity observed in the case of 25% and 50% dilutions. It may be concluded that with higher amounts of silver, cytotoxicity is more susceptible with the course of time. But it must be kept in mind that these cells have not been subjected to nutrition, and therefore cell death will occur in any event. Other research groups have found that no cytoxicity occurred when Ti alloy with 1.0% Ag, was evaluated by Agar Overlay Test. However, they observed mild cytotoxicity with increasing the amount of silver, from 2.0% upwards.

Next, a dissolution rate test was conducted on the 6 different groups of coupons. The dissolution rate test was carried out to measure the amount of silver and titanium released from the coupons.

Ion release from the titanium plus silver parts in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) solution was performed for short-term tests of up to two weeks. The parts were immersed in polypropylene universals (extraction vehicles). A ratio of 0.1 g/ml was used for preparing the extraction solutions.

The Phosphate Buffer Solution was the chosen immersion medium as suggested from the standard I.S.O. 10993-12: 2004. The study was performed at 37° C. Once all the media were collected, they were taken to the elemental analysis room where ICPMS analysis was performed.

The main findings of ICP-MS on titanium and silver ions released from the processed SLM parts are presented in FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 11 illustrates the release of titanium ions from the processed SLM parts by ICP-MS at different time periods. The Method Detection Limit (MDL) for titanium is about 13 ppb. Method Detection Limit (MDL) is based on the mean+3.14× the standard deviation of seven controls, which in this case is PBS. FIG. 12 illustrates the release of silver ions from the processed SLM parts by ICP-MS at different time periods. For silver, the detection limit (MDL) is 0.5 ppb. FIG. 11 also shows that the amount of titanium ions released into the medium is lower that the detection limit (MDL) for the titanium isotope. There was a similar amount of titanium ion release for all of the extraction time periods.

The release of silver ions from the different groups was significantly higher than the detection limit as shown in FIG. 12. The coupons constructed without any silver (0% Ag) and only titanium had a negligible amount of silver ions released (and similar to MDL) indicating that no silver ions were released from the coupons. The coupons having 0.05% of silver leached the same concentration of silver ions at one and seven days. The leached amount of silver ions did increase when the immersion time was increased to 14 days. The coupons having 0.1% and 0.25% of silver showed a similar trend on the leaching of silver ions by increasing the immersion time. These two groups released the same ion concentration as coupons having 0.05% of silver at seven days. The coupons having 0.25% silver, which were subjected to a cold spray released the highest concentrations of silver ions. By increasing the immersion time the concentration of released ions was increased.

Generally there was a rapid increase of the release rate of silver ions at seven days compared with the results from day one for all the groups, except for the group with 0.05% silver. The rapid release rate of silver ions could be attributed to the direct contact of the medium with the surface and inner parts of the coupons due to the porosity of the coupons. At fourteen days there was a small increase in the release rate of silver for all of the groups. From FIG. 12 it could be observed that the silver ions release slowed down at fourteen days.

The above findings could be compared with findings from other research groups. Additional studies observed an increased silver ion release and then a marginal increase between 4 to 6 days. It must also be remembered that the silver concentrations represented by the respective figures are not absolute as silver was lost during the processing. It is therefore not surprising that in the short term, the coupons with 0.25% of silver and which were coated gave the highest release of silver, as this was an accurate representation of the silver content, and all of the silver was present on the surface of the coupon.

Antimicrobial properties of silver release were accessed by monitoring biofilm formation resulting from pathogen presents. Biofilm experiments were only carried out on the narrow range of silver addition, specifically coupons that included silver in between the range of 0.05 to 0.25%.

The organism used for this study was Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen, which takes advantage of any break in a host's defenses to initiate an infection. The main causes of this organism are urinary tract infections, respiratory system infections, soft tissues infections, bone and joint infections and gastrointestinal infections. Pseudomonas aeroginosa is primarily a nosocomial pathogen. This bacterium is the fourth most commonly isolated nosocomial pathogen accounting for 10.1% of all hospital acquired infections. The bacteriostatic effect of the Ti—Ag coupons was evaluated by determining indirectly the number of bacterial cells in a bacteria culture after selected time periods, the time periods being 0 hours, 6 hours and 24 hours. The indirect determination utilized an optical density measurement. However, a scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used at the end of the experiment to take images of any biofilm formation on the different groups of constructs.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cultured in an L-broth for 18 hours before introduction into the test environment. After 18 hours of exposure to the broth, the cell density of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa was read at a wavelength of 600 nm (OD600) using a spectrophotometer. Two different dilutions (1/5 and 1/10) were performed in order to obtain an initial OD of 0.1-0.3 according to the standard E2149-01. In order to test direct contact of the bacteria with the coupons, the Pseudomonas aeruginosa inoculum was placed in culture flasks together with enough culture medium to cover the individually constructed coupons. All the flasks were incubated at 37° C. with agitation.

After 0 hours an aliquot of media from each flask was recovered and placed in a cuvette (clear plastic containers for the spectrophotometer). A cuvette containing a blank of LB medium was placed in the reader of the spectrophotometer to adjust the reading to zero. Then the cuvette containing an aliquot (1000 μl) of each flask was read. The main reason for this set of readings was to insure that a similar number of bacteria were in each flask. After 6 hours and 24 hours, the same process was repeated. After 6 hours and 24 hours all of the coupons were recovered and prepared for SEM analysis by a standard fixation procedure. All the samples, i.e., coupons were first washed in PBS, and then the coupons were fixed in 2.5% gluteraldehyde solution for 15 minutes. The samples were then dehydrated for 30 minutes each in an ethanol bath at 70%, 90% and 100%, sequentially. All the coupons where then stored in a desiccator. A carbon coater was then used to coat all the samples for SEM analysis.

An Optical Density (OD) test was performed to determine the cell number of a suspension of cells. Table and FIG. 13 illustrate the effect that the different coupons having a different percentage of silver disposed therein had on the bacteria suspension. The percentage of silver within each coupon is a measurement of the amount of silver in the original mixture prior to any processing. It does not take into account losses of silver during formation of the samples.

TABLE 7
OD (600 nm) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in contact with Ag-Ti SLM
coupons at different time periods. The initial OD was 0.106

Initially, the OD was obtained from neat solutions (bacteria+broth). At 6 hours time the OD was obtained from 1/5 dilutions (bacteria+broth). And at the twenty four hour mark the OD was obtained from 1/10 dilutions (bacteria+broth). The grey shading in some of the boxes indicates neat solutions.

According to Table 15, at the sixth hour the coupons that showed an effect similar to the control group were the coupons with 0% Ag, 0.05% Ag, 0.1% Ag and 0.25% Ag with a cold spray coating. The bacteria in contact with these coupons proliferated at the same manner as the control groups. There is no statistical difference between the ODs of these groups. However, the 0.25% Ag coupons stopped the bacteria growth. Further, there was no statistical difference between the ODs of this group at the start (0 hour) or at the six hour mark. Therefore the silver released from the 0.25% Ag coupons had an effect on bacteria at 6 hours.

At the twenty-four hour mark coupons with 0% Ag, 0.05% Ag, 0.1% Ag and 0.25% Ag coating all had a bacteria proliferation similar to that of control flasks. The coupons with 0.25% Ag produced different results. One of the three samples prevented the proliferation of bacteria while the other two samples allowed the bacteria to proliferate in a similar manner to the twenty-four hour controls. Thus, the coupons originally created with 0.25% silver but actually with only 0.15% silver due to losses at various stages is an approximation of the lower levels of silver required to effectively prevent bacteria proliferation for the sample geometry. The antibiotic bone cement was used as a control to confirm that bacteria could be killed to prevent formation of the biofilm. A sample of antibiotic bone cement was added into certain wells to obtain this control number.

The absorbencies of the groups at the 6 hour mark were greater than the absorbencies of the groups at twenty four hours. This could be attributed to the fact that these incubation times belong to different stages of the bacteria growth cycle. The initial incubation time belongs to the lag phase of the growth cycle. In this phase there is no apparent cell division occurring, but the cells increase in metabolic activity. The 6 hour incubation time belongs to the exponential (log) phase of the bacteria growth cycle where all the cells divide at a constant rate depending upon the composition of the growth medium and the conditions of incubation. Finally, the twenty-four hour incubation time belongs to the stationary phase of the bacteria growth cycle, which is the stage after the exponential (log) growth phase. During this phase population growth is limited by one of three factors: exhaustion of available nutrients; accumulation of inhibitory metabolites endproducts; and/or exhaustion of space. The main finding of the SEM analysis is the formation of biofilm at the periphery of the samples. There is no biofilm formation observed but there are bacteria attached on surface of the samples in all of the groups except the 0.25% Ag group and the Bone Cement group. However, biofilm formation was observed on the samples of the different groups of percentage of Ag—Ti (coupons) samples at the twenty-four hour mark.

These results are indicative that this method has the ability to inhibit/prevent the growth of bacteria, notwithstanding that it is silver concentration and ion release dependent.

Although the present invention has been described using a homogeneous mixture of silver powder and titanium powder—subject to the restrictions of thoroughly mixing the two—in alternate embodiments the composition of the powder may change from layer to layer. For instance, with the SLM process a first number of layers of a component may be built entirely with titanium powder. Then the next layers of the component may be built using a mixture of silver and titanium powder. This process may be alternated until the component part is complete. The percentage of silver within the various layers may also be changed such that some layers have for instance 0.1% silver and others have 0.25% silver. This process may also be incorporated into the cold spray process.

In another aspect of the present invention at least one layer of material used to construct the orthopedic implant includes only silver powder. For example, the orthopedic implant may be built having a layer of silver adjacent layers of titanium. Of course various layers of silver may be positioned together while these layers are positioned adjacent to titanium layers.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of building an orthopedic implant comprising the steps of: mixing a first powder having antimicrobial properties with a biocompatible second powder to form a mixture;depositing a layer of the mixture on top of a substrate; andselectively melting the mixture layer,wherein at least the second powder is metallic.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising depositing at least one additional layer of mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first powder includes silver.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the silver comprises approximately between 0.05% to 9.0% of the mixture.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the steps of depositing at least one additional layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer of the mixture are repeated until an orthopedic implant is built.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising depositing at least one layer of biocompatible powder onto either the substrate or a previous layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one layer of biocompatible powder.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is part of a finished product.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the deposited layers of mixture are selectively melted to obtain a component having a predetermined porosity at predetermined locations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first powder is metallic.

10. A method of building an orthopedic implant comprising the steps of: mixing a first powder having antimicrobial properties with a biocompatible second powder to form a mixture, the first and second powders being metallic;depositing a layer of the mixture on top of a substrate; andselectively melting the mixture layer through the use of a laser.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising depositing at least one additional layer of mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first powder includes silver.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the silver comprises approximately between 0.05% to 9.0% of the mixture.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the steps of depositing at least one additional layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer of the mixture repeated until an orthopedic implant is built.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising depositing at least one layer of biocompatible powder onto either the substrate or a previous layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one layer of biocompatible powder.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is part of a finished product.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the deposited layers of mixture are selectively melted to obtain a component having a predetermined porosity at predetermined locations.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the selective melting step includes making multiple scans with the laser.

19. A method of building an orthopedic implant comprising the steps of: mixing a first powder having antimicrobial properties with a biocompatible second powder to form a mixture, at least the second powder being metallic;depositing a layer of the mixture on top of a substrate; andselectively melting the mixture layer by making multiple scans with a laser.

20. The method claim 19, wherein the first powder is metallic.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising depositing at least one additional layer of mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the first powder includes silver.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the silver comprises approximately between 0.05% to 9.0% of the mixture.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the steps of depositing at least one additional layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one additional layer of the mixture are repeated until an orthopedic implant is built.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising depositing at least one layer of biocompatible powder onto either the substrate or a previous layer of the mixture and selectively melting the at least one layer of biocompatible powder.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the substrate is part of a finished product.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the deposited layers of mixture are selectively melted to obtain a component having a predetermined porosity at predetermined locations.