The present invention relates to bioabsorbable band systems for securing bone. Specifically, the present invention relates to bioabsorbable band systems comprising a bioabsorbable band and bioabsorbable locking member systems.
Surgical band and locking member systems position cables and locking implants around bones to allow for healing. One common form of a locking implant is a crimp system. These systems are used to crush the cable into engagement with the tissue to retain the cable at a desired position. However, current designs of cable and crimp systems, particularly for surgical use, have significant drawbacks. For example, a tension, which is too low or too high may lead to improper healing or poor medical results.
Also, in many prior art cable and crimp systems there is the possibility for slippage of the cable in the crimp, which can lead to delayed healing. The loosening of the cable, e.g. in bone fracture fixation, can also lead to delayed healing, pain or even to a failure to heal. Also, many prior art crimps cannot be easily locked at a desired tension, and often the desired tension can not be maintained when using a cable loop or winding as there is an inevitable drop in tension when the pliers are removed. Thus, a surgeon typically has to “over shoot” the desired tension, guessing how much of that tension will be lost after the crimping has been completed and the pliers removed, thus significantly increasing the possibility for tensioning errors.
In addition, many prior art crimps are bulky and may cause adverse tensioning in the surrounding tissues, which may result in a negative effect on tissue healing. Another drawback of many prior art cable and crimp systems is that they are made of metal, such as stainless steel. Such extremely stiff materials are mechanically incompatible with bone tissue and therefore, may cause osteolysis below the material, which may lead to implant migration.
Therefore, it is desirable to use less stiff band and locking member systems, thereby preventing osteolysis and implant migration. It may also be desirable to use bands and locking member systems where band slippage in relation to the locking member(s) is not possible. Finally, it may be desirable to use bioabsorbable band and locking member systems, so that the implant will absorb after healing of the bone fracture or osteotomy.
The present invention provides a bioabsorbable band and locking member system, which may provide accurate tensioning to the band and safe locking of the band around bone.
In an embodiment of the present invention, a bioabsorbable band system for securing a bone fracture is provided, comprising, a bioabsorbable band, a first locking system comprising at least one bioabsorbable fastener, and a second locking system comprising at least one bioabsorbable fastener.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method to secure a bone fracture or osteotomy with a bioabsorbable band system is provided. The method includes locking the first end of the band to a surface of a bone with the first locking system, passing the second end through side edges of a tissue to be drawn together with the bone, tightening the band, and locking the second end of the band to a surface of the bone.
In accordance with the present invention, a bioabsorbable band and locking member system are provided. The system comprises a bioabsorbable elongated band and two locking member systems. The band system of the present invention may be used to heal bone fractures or osteotomies.
The bioabsorbable band may comprise a flat elongated body having a lower side and an upper side. The band may be fabricated from bioabsorbable fibers through textile technology such as forming fabric through braiding or weaving, or molded from bioabsorbable polymer, copolymer or polymer blend through polymer technology, such as injection molding or extrusion.
The locking member systems may include a first bioabsorbable locking member system for securing one end of the band on or around a bone, and a second bioabsorbable locking member system for securing the other end of the band on or around the bone, and/or on the first locking member. The locking member systems may be solid, stiff objects, like pins, rods, screws, bolts, rivets or tacks, which penetrate the band to lock it in relation to the bone. Such locking systems are known in the art, as for example described U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,075 (screws), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/410,288 (tacks) and in FR Pat. No. 2,741,255 (bolts or rivets), all hereby incorporated by reference.
The various bioabsorbable materials available to manufacture the band of the present invention may include woven, braided, knitted, bioabsorbable fibers, solid bioabsorbable plates, molded bioabsorbable polymers, copolymers, or polymer blends, and bioabsorbable meshes. Depending on the desired properties, any of the above material structures may be used individually or in combination. For example, the various material structures each have a combination of unique properties, such as flexibility, stiffness, strength, toughness, and elasticity.
As shown in
Band 11 of
In
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of using a band system of the present invention is provided. Generally, to use the band system of the present invention, the first end of the band may be locked to a bone surface using at least one fastener. The second end of the band, including a needle, may be passed through the side edges of the tissue to be drawn together (for example, around the operated sternum for closing of a sternotomy). The second end of the band, which is bent around the bone particles to be fixed together, may be tightened over the osteotomy. The proper tension may be maintained on the band by drawing the second end of the band. This tensioning or drawing may be performed by hand or using a specific tensioning measurement device. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,318, which is hereby incorporated by reference. In either instance, maintaining a controlled pressure is important in order to allow for proper healing of the osteotomy.
Thereafter, the second end of the band is fixed under proper tension on bone and/or on the surface of the first end of the band by forming a suitable hole through the second end of the band, optionally through the first end of the band, and into the bone below the band.
Next a hole 211 may be drilled through the first end 205 of the band 210 into the sternum 47. The fastener 215 may be tapped in or a counter sink may be used to fasten the fastener 215 in the bone 47, as shown in
As shown in
The advantages to using this system include the controlled, continuous tightening of a band for optimal tensioning without the restriction of initial fixation elements or holes, lack of slippage between the band and the bone and the locking systems, and the lack of crimps, which may cause adverse effects, like pain or oedema.
The oriented and/or reinforced materials of the implants of this invention typically have initial tensile strengths of about 100-1000 MPa, bending strengths of about 100-500 MPa and shear strengths of about 80-300 MPa. Additionally, they can be made stiff, tough, and/or flexible. These mechanical properties are superior to those of non-reinforced absorbable polymers which typically show strengths between 40 and 100 MPa and may additionally be brittle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it does not require bulky crimps. The elements of the band system may be made relatively thin e.g. with band thicknesses about 0.5-2 mm (with widths about 3-15 mm) and locking member diameters about 0.5-5 mm and lengths about 4-20 mm.
In
The embodiment shown in
The band system shown in
The embodiment of the present invention shown in
The bioabsorbable band systems of this invention may be manufactured of bioabsorbable polymers, copolymers or polymer mixtures or alloys by molding, sintering and/or with solid state deformation methods such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,257, U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,317, EPO Pat. No. 0423155, AU Pat. No. 729801, EPO Pat. No. 1009448 and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,598, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Strong and tough oriented and/or self-reinforced structures are especially advantageous for the systems of this invention. They may be created during extrusion or injection molding of absorbable polymeric melt through a suitable die or into a suitable mold at high speed and pressure. When cooling occurs at suitable conditions, the flow orientation of the melt remains in the solid material as an oriented and/or self-reinforced structure. In an advantageous embodiment, the mold may have the form of an element of the system, including a band or a locking member, but it is also possible to manufacture the implants of the invention by machining (possibly using also heat) and by thermoforming of injection-molded or extruded semi-finished products.
It is advantageous to make the implants of melt-molded, solid state drawn or compressed, bioabsorbable polymeric materials, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,317 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,186, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The reinforcing fibers of the implants may also be ceramic fibers, such as bioabsorbable hydroxyapatite, bioactive glass, or tricalcium phosphate fibers. Such bioabsorbable, ceramic fiber reinforced materials are described in European Patent Application No. 0146398 and in WO 96/21628, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The oriented and/or self-reinforced or otherwise fiber reinforced implants of this invention may be manufactured by molding the reinforcement fiber-polymer matrix to the final product in a mold, whose mold cavity has the form of the final product (e.g. a band or a locking member) or the final form may be machined mechanically (possibly also using heat) on a preform, such as a melt-molded and solid-state drawn rod, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,317, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The reinforcement elements may extend into any protrusions or ridges of various elements of the system. The reinforcement elements may also turn spirally around the long axis of the various elements of the system. Also other different orientations of reinforcement elements in elongated samples which are familiar from composite technology may be applied to the present invention. However, a general feature of orientation and/or fiber-reinforcement or self-reinforcement in the present invention is that many of the reinforcing elements are oriented in such a way that they can carry effectively the different external loads (such as tensile, bending and shear loads) that are directed to the healing bone fracture or osteotomy.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, elements of the system, such as a band and/or a locking member, may have a special coating layer on its surface and may contain one or more bioactive substances, such as antibiotics, chemotherapeutic substances, growth factors like bone morphogenic proteins, substances accelerating the healing of the wound and osteotomy, hormones or other drugs and the like. Such bioactive elements are especially advantageous in surgical use, because they contribute biochemically to the healing of the lesion in addition to providing mechanical support.
The implants of the present invention may be sterilized by well known sterilization techniques, depending on the type of material used in manufacture of the implant. Suitable sterilization techniques include radiation sterilization such as cobalt 60 irradiation or electron beams, ethylene oxide sterilization, and the like.
After the description above of the present invention and certain specific embodiments thereof, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.