The present invention relates to the field of biomedical instruments, and particularly to a high-strength absorbable composite active internal fixation device and a preparation method therefor.
Bone injury is a disease which occurs widely in clinic with a high probability of occurrence, and internal fixation is the most common treatment means. Traditional metal internal fixation materials must be removed by a second operation after healing, which increases the pain and economic burden of patients. Using bioabsorbable materials instead of traditional non-absorbable materials has become a development trend. Although such products are already available, the poor mechanical properties and inflammatory reaction thereof often lead to implant failures.
Polylactic acid is a degradable polymer material which is safe to human body and friendly to environment, and can be used for preparing surgical sutures, injection microcapsules, degradable bone nails, implants, artificial bones, artificial skin, etc. Polylactic acid is characterized in that metabolites thereof are non-toxic and are eventually converted into carbon dioxide and water in the body.
The existing absorbable internal fixation implant products, represented by polylactic acid, generally have the problems of low strength and easy fracture, which are the main reasons for implant failures. Among which, mechanical decay of materials caused during machining is an unsolved problem so far.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an internal fixation device with excellent biological activity and mechanical properties and a preparation method therefor.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a preparation method for an internal fixation device is provided, comprising the following steps:
In another preferred embodiment, the bioactive nanoparticles are inorganic particles selected from the following group: hydroxyapatite, tricalcium phosphate, calcium sulphate, calcium phosphate, magnesium sulphate, or a combination thereof.
In another preferred embodiment, the inorganic particles are surface modified inorganic particles, and surface modification is conducted by a modified material selected from the following group: silane coupler, polylactic acid (such as low molecular weight polylactic acid), polylactic acid-polycaprolactone copolymer, or a combination thereof.
In another preferred embodiment, particle diameter of the inorganic particles is 5-30000 nm, preferably 10-25000 nm, preferably 20-20000 nm, preferably 30-500 nm, preferably 40-400 nm, and more preferably 50-350 nm.
In another preferred embodiment, mass content of the modified material in the surface modified inorganic particles is 0.001-40 wt %, preferably 0.01-20 wt %, and more preferably 0.015-20 wt %.
In another preferred embodiment, the catalyst is selected from the following group: zinc oxide, stannous octoate, stannous chloride, butyl magnesium, or a combination thereof.
In another preferred embodiment, the biomedical grade monomers are selected from the following group: L-lactide, D(+)-lactide, DL-lactide, trimethylene carbonate, caprolactone, glycolide, or a combination thereof.
In another preferred embodiment, mass content of the bioactive nanoparticles in the first mixture is 0.001-80 wt %, preferably 0.01-60 wt %, and more preferably 0.01-40 wt %.
In another preferred embodiment, mass content of the catalyst in the first mixture is preferably 0.03-0.80 wt %, and more preferably 0.04-0.60 wt %.
In another preferred embodiment, mass content of the biomedical grade monomers in the first mixture is 20-99.999 wt %, preferably 40-99.99 wt %, and more preferably 60-99.99 wt %.
In another preferred embodiment, number-average molar mass of the first polymer is 50-1000 kDa, preferably 80-800 kDa, and more preferably 100-600 kDa.
In another preferred embodiment, the first polymer is selected from the following group: poly-L-lactic acid homopolymer, poly(D,L-lactide) homopolymer, DL-lactide-caprolactone copolymer and L-lactide-glycolide copolymer.
In another preferred embodiment, the granulation has one or more characteristics selected from the following group:
In another preferred embodiment, the injection molding has one or more characteristics selected from the following group:
In another preferred embodiment, the annealing has one or more characteristics selected from the following group:
In another preferred embodiment, the extrusion molding has one or more characteristics selected from the following group:
In another preferred embodiment, the extrusion molding is repeated in step 6).
In another preferred embodiment, the extrusion molding is repeated for 2-10 times, and preferably for 3-6 times.
In a second aspect of the present invention, an internal fixation device is provided, wherein the internal fixation device is prepared by the method of the first aspect of the present invention.
In another preferred embodiment, the internal fixation device has one or more characteristics selected from the following group:
In another preferred embodiment, the material forming the internal fixation device is selected from the following group: poly-L-lactic acid, poly(D,L-lactide), DL-lactide-caprolactone copolymer and L-lactide-glycolide copolymer.
In another preferred embodiment, the internal fixation device is selected from the following group: an internal fixation compression screw, an interference screw, a rib rod and an internal fixation plate.
It should be understood that each of the above technical characteristics of the present invention and each of the technical characteristics specifically described in the following (e.g., embodiments) may be combined with each other in the scope of the present invention, thereby constituting a new or preferred technical solution. Due to space limitations, it will not be repeated herein.
After long-term and in-depth research, and through an improved preparation process, the inventor has accidentally prepared an internal fixation device with excellent biological activity and mechanical properties. On this basis, the inventor completes the present invention.
The present invention develops an active nanoparticle composite technique, and a low damage injection molding technique combined with cold extrusion secondary orientation and crystallization induced autofrettage technique, so as to significantly improve the biological activity and mechanical strength of an implant material, reduce the mechanical property degradation rate of a device in the early stage of implantation, attenuate inflammatory reaction, and improve the safety and effectivity of an absorbable internal fixation product for a user.
The biological activity includes but is not limited to an ability to promote cell adhesion, osteoinductivity and osteoconductibility.
The internal fixation device has the functions of in vivo degradation and absorption, and has osteoinductive activity.
The biological activity of the internal fixation device is manifested by that the material has good osteoconductibility and an ability to induce osteogenic regeneration, which can promote bone tissue regeneration in situ.
The present invention provides a preparation method for the internal fixation device, comprising the following steps:
Preferably, the biomedical grade monomers include but are not limited to L-lactide, D(+)-lactide, DL-lactide, trimethylene carbonate, caprolactone, glycolide, or a mixture of the above monomers;
Preferably, number-average molar mass of the polylactic acid polymer is 100-600 kDa, and components of the polylactic acid polymer include but are not limited to poly-L-lactic acid, poly(D,L-lactide), poly-L-lactic acid-caprolactone copolymer (mass ratio of comonomers is 5:95-95:5) poly(D,L-lactide)-caprolactone copolymer (mass ratio of comonomers is 5:95-95:5), or a blend of the above polymers;
Preferably, main components of the bioactive nanoparticles are inorganic particles which can be used as a nucleating agent during polymer crystallization to refine crystalline grains, and are selected from one or a mixture of hydroxyapatite, tricalcium phosphate, calcium sulphate, calcium phosphate and magnesium sulphate;
Preferably, after surface modification, the dispersion condition of the nanoparticles can be improved and the biological activity of the nanoparticles can be reserved by initiating the polymerization of the biomedical grade monomers at an interface between the nanoparticles and the monomers.
Preferably, the step of lossless machining includes the processes of extrusion and granulation by a single screw rod or double screw rods, injection molding and annealing, wherein in the process of granulation, the temperature of the single screw rod or double screw rods is 40-200° C.; in the process of injection molding, the bucket temperature is 50-250° C., the mold temperature is 20-150° C., the injection pressure is 1-201 MPa, the injection time is 2-20 s, and the dwell time is 50-100 s; in the process of annealing, the cooling rate is 5-50° C./min, and the cooling time is 5-10 min;
Preferably, the autofrettage technique is a cold extrusion technique, the extrusion temperature is 60-200° C., the extrusion pressure is 100 N-100 kN, and the ratio of cross-sectional area before and after extrusion is 1-100;
Further, a multistage autofrettage method is to form the blank into the section bar through primary extrusion and enhancement, then extrude the section bar for several times, and cut to an appropriate size.
Specifically, the method comprises the following steps:
According to the total weight of the degradable polymer (i.e., biomedical grade polymer) and the inorganic particles, the degradable polymer accounts for 20-99.999 wt % of the composite, and the inorganic particles account for 0.001-80 wt %.
The degradable polymer includes but is not limited to poly-L-lactic acid, poly(D,L-lactide), poly-L-lactic acid-caprolactone copolymer (mass ratio of comonomers is 5:95-95:5), poly(D,L-lactide)-caprolactone copolymer (mass ratio of comonomers is 5:95-95:5), or a blend of the above polymers.
The bioactive nanoparticles are inorganic particles which can be used as a nucleating agent during polymer crystallization to refine crystalline grains, and are selected from one or a mixture of hydroxyapatite, tricalcium phosphate, calcium sulphate, calcium phosphate and magnesium sulphate, with a particle diameter of 10-800 nm.
The step of lossless machining includes the processes of extrusion and granulation by a single screw rod or double screw rods, injection molding and annealing, wherein in the process of granulation, the temperature of the single screw rod or double screw rods is 40-200° C.; in the process of injection molding, the bucket temperature is 50-250° C., the mold temperature is 20-150° C., the injection pressure is 1-20 MPa, the injection time is 2-20 s, and the dwell time is 50-100 s; in the process of annealing, the cooling rate is 5-50° C./min, and the cooling time is 5-10 min.
The autofrettage technique is a cold extrusion technique, the extrusion temperature is 60200° C., the extrusion pressure is 100 N-100 kN, and the ratio of cross-sectional area before and after extrusion is 1-100; and the extrusion mold used in the present invention is designed according to the shape of the internal fixation device to be prepared.
Compared with the prior art, the present invention mainly has the following advantages:
The present invention is further described below in combination with the specific embodiments. It should be understood that the embodiments are only used for illustrating the present invention, not used for limiting the scope of the present invention. Experimental methods in which specific conditions are not specified in the following embodiments are carried out usually under conventional conditions or the conditions recommended by the manufacturer. Unless otherwise specified, the percentages and parts are based on weight.
Unless otherwise defined, all professional and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those familiar to those skilled in the art. In addition, any method and material similar or equal to the recorded content can be applied to the method of the present invention. The preferred implementation methods and materials described herein are for demonstration purposes only.
Flexural properties of the material are tested by a mechanical testing machine (CMT-2503, MTS) with a three-point bending method according to GB/T 9341-2008. The material is made into a rod with a diameter of 6 mm, a length of 40 mm for each specimen, a span of 20 mm, an experimental rate of 1 mm/min and a test temperature of 25° C.
The torsional properties of the device are determined by a small load torsional test system (55MT, Instron) according to ASTM F543-2013. The final device is taken as a specimen, with a loading speed of 1 rad/min and a test temperature of 25° C.
Hot pressing is conducted to the obtained composite by a press vulcanizer at 180° C. to make the composite into a thin membrane with a thickness of 0.2 mm; rBMSCs are used as model cells to evaluate the cytocompatibility of the composite material in vitro by MTT method; the morphology and adhesion condition of rBMSCs on the composite membrane are observed by SEM, and the differences in osteogenic differentiation abilities of rBMSCs on the composite membrane are evaluated through ALP staining and ALP activity experiments. In each of the above experiments, a pure polylactic acid membrane is used as a control specimen.
The internal fixation device obtained is shown in
In the device, the mass fraction of L-lactide is 99.88 wt %, the mass fraction of the catalyst stannous octoate is 0.11 wt %, and the mass fraction of the modified hydroxyapatite is 0.01 wt %.
The differences in torsional properties of an enhanced internal fixation screw and the pure polylactic acid injection molding internal fixation device are shown in
A bar material obtained by cold extrusion in step 5) of embodiment 1 is used to test flexural properties of the material with a three-point bending method, with a length of 40 mm for each specimen, a span of 20 mm, an experimental rate of 1 mm/min and a test temperature of 25° C. A control specimen is a bar material obtained by melt extrusion using the same raw material after granulation in step 2), and the data is shown in
In the device, the mass fraction of DL-lactide is 99.79 wt %, the mass fraction of modified hydroxyapatite (SHA) is 0.10 wt %, and the mass fraction of the catalyst is 0.11 wt %.
Hot pressing is conducted to the obtained composite by a press vulcanizer at 180° C. to make the composite into a thin membrane with a thickness of 0.2 mm; and the differences in osteogenic differentiation abilities of rat rBMSCs on the composite membrane are evaluated through ALP staining and ALP activity experiments. The results are shown in
The reference example is different from embodiment 1 in that: after synthesis and granulation, an internal fixation screw C1 is directly obtained by injection molding through the injection molding machine without being enhanced by cold extrusion. According to a torsional test of the device, the peak torque is 29.49 N·mm, and the peak angle is 51.40°, which are much smaller than those of an enhanced screw, as shown in
All references to the present invention are cited as references in the present application, just as each reference is cited as a reference separately. In addition, it should be understood that those skilled in the art could, after reading the above content of the present invention, implement various modifications to and variations of the present invention, and such equivalent forms also fall within the scope defined by appended claims of the present application.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202010135441.8 | Mar 2020 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2021/078708 | 3/2/2021 | WO |