阅读说明：本技术 用于椎体成形术的由生物相容性金属材料制成的颗粒 (Particles made of biocompatible metallic material for vertebroplasty ) 是由 G·索拉诺 R·德拉戈 于 2020-03-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及用于椎体成形术操作的由生物相容性金属材料制成的颗粒,其特别是由钛或钛合金制成。根据本发明的颗粒(10)的特征在于其具有球形的形状并包含具有实心结构的中心核(13),所述中心核也是球形的并具有外表面(13a),从该外表面突出也具有实心结构的第一个径向肋(11)和第二个径向肋(12)。所述径向肋(11,12)是根据两个互相垂直的直径排布的。根据本发明的颗粒(10)也包含具有小梁结构的部分(14),此部分(14)在所述中心核(13)的外表面(13a)与颗粒本身的外表面(10a)之间延伸。(The present invention relates to particles made of biocompatible metallic material, in particular made of titanium or titanium alloys, for use in vertebroplasty procedures. The granule (10) according to the invention is characterized in that it has a spherical shape and comprises a central core (13) with a solid structure, said central core also being spherical and having an outer surface (13a) from which protrude a first radial rib (11) and a second radial rib (12) also with a solid structure. The radial ribs (11,12) are arranged according to two mutually perpendicular diameters. The granule (10) according to the invention also comprises a portion (14) having a trabecular structure, this portion (14) extending between the outer surface (13a) of said central core (13) and the outer surface (10a) of the granule itself.)

1. A pellet (10) made of biocompatible metallic material for vertebroplasty procedures, in particular made of titanium or titanium alloy, characterized in that it has a spherical shape and comprises a central core (13) with solid structure, said central core being also spherical and having an outer surface (13a) from which protrude a first radial rib (11) and a second radial rib (12) with solid structure, these radial ribs being arranged according to two mutually perpendicular diameters, and in that it comprises a portion (14) with trabecular structure, this portion (14) extending between the outer surface (13a) of said central core (13) and the outer surface (10a) of the pellet itself.

2. The pellet (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said first radial rib (11) and said second radial rib (12) are extended from said central core (13) to the outer surface (10a) of said pellet (10).

3. The granule (10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer diameter (c) of the granule is equal to 3.3mm and the diameter (b) of the central core (13) is equal to 2.5 mm.

4. The granule (10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that each of said first radial ribs (11) and second radial ribs (12) has a width of 0.5 mm.

5. The particle (10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is produced by the EBM rapid prototyping technique.

6. Particle (10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said portion with a trabecular structure (14) has an average porosity of 400-800 microns.

7. The granule (10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said portion with a trabecular structure (14) has trabeculae made up of "Dode-thin" elements, manufactured by EBM techniques.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a particular configuration of granules made of biocompatible metallic material, in particular made of titanium or alloys thereof, for use in vertebroplasty or percutaneous kyphoplasty procedures.

Vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty is a treatment for patients with vertebral compression fractures.

Background

The applicant is the owner of the granted italian patent nr.0001425055 and of the pending european patent application EP3169375, which claims priority from said italian patent, in which granules made of biocompatible material suitable for use in vertebroplasty operations are described.

The previous patents of the same applicant therefore propose prosthetic devices made of biocompatible material, in particular of titanium or its alloys, in the form of granules comprising at least an outer surface portion having a porosity suitable for allowing bone fusion and promoting bone growth.

This solution offers a new alternative to the systems known from the prior art to replace bone cements such as PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate).

The most widely used techniques include the use of balloons: after creating the desired access device, the surgeon inserts the cannula into the collapsed vertebra, thereby inserting the balloon into the body of the vertebra in the region where the collapsed cancellous bone no longer performs its supporting function.

With the patient in the inclined and misaligned position, the cannula is inserted directly into the body of the vertebra through the transpedicular access.

The entire procedure is carried out in the case of endoscopy.

Once the correct position within the vertebral body is reached, a bone compression device, which is simply a balloon, inflated by a liquid or equivalent system, is inserted through the cannula.

The function of the balloon is to compress the trabeculae of cancellous bone of the vertebral body while expanding the internal void of the collapsed vertebra.

Once the intervertebral space has been inflated by means of the balloon, the latter is withdrawn and the cement, also known as PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), commonly used in orthopedics, is inserted again through the cannula in the space thus formed.

The use of cement in kyphoplasty has the advantage of immediately ensuring primary stability, i.e. resistance to the compressive loads acting on the spine, which ensures a very short hospitalisation of the patient so that the patient can leave himself within days after the operation.

According to the teaching of EP3169375, the applicant has overcome the drawbacks of having an adverse effect on the traditional technique when using bone cement by using granules made of biocompatible material for vertebroplasty operations.

In light of these teachings, the applicant has developed specific and preferred particulate constructs made of biocompatible metallic materials, such as titanium or alloys thereof, for vertebroplasty procedures, as described in detail below.

Summary of The Invention

The main task of the present invention is to provide particles made of biocompatible metallic material, such as titanium or alloys thereof, which are optimized for use in vertebroplasty procedures.

In this task, therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide particles made of biocompatible metallic material, for example made of titanium or alloys thereof, for vertebroplasty, which provide the best primary stability, namely: resist compressive loads acting on the optimized spinal column while allowing optimized bone fusion and osteogenesis capabilities.

Another object of the present invention is to provide particles made of biocompatible metallic material for vertebroplasty, which can be introduced into the damaged vertebra via the same cannula as the one used by the surgeon for inserting the balloon according to conventional surgical techniques, the function of said balloon being to compact the trabeculae of the cancellous bone of the vertebral body and at the same time to expand the internal void of the collapsed vertebra.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide granules for vertebroplasty made of biocompatible metallic material, the geometry of which is such as to have an elasticity as close as possible to the average elasticity of the reference bone of the vertebra to be restored and which must stimulate the growth and osseointegration of said bone.

This task, as well as the above and other objects of the present invention, are achieved by a pellet for vertebroplasty made of biocompatible metallic material according to claim 1.

The particles made of biocompatible metallic material for vertebroplasty according to the present invention are further characterized as described in the dependent claims.

Brief Description of Drawings

The characteristics and advantages of the particles made of biocompatible metallic material for vertebroplasty according to the present invention will be described by the following detailed description, non-limiting examples and with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a general perspective view of a granule made of biocompatible metallic material according to the invention;

figure 2 shows a section of the particle as shown in figure 1;

figure 3 shows the same schematic cross-section as figure 2;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic perspective view of the Dode-thin structure of the trabecular part representing the granules of the invention;

figures 5A and 5B and figures 6A and 6B show the Dode-thin structure of trabeculae of the granules of the invention.

Detailed Description

According to the invention, granules made of biocompatible metallic material, more particularly based on titanium and/or its alloys, are prepared, these granules having characteristics such that they can be inserted simultaneously into the body of the vertebra during operation, resisting the main loads, and performing over time a bone fusion of said granules and a stimulation of bone regeneration.

The granule 10 of the invention preferably has a spherical shape with a maximum outer diameter of less than 4mm, more preferably with an outer diameter of 3.3mm, and has a substantially spherical central core 13 from which a first radial rib 11 and a second radial rib 12, arranged according to two diameters perpendicular to each other, protrude and extend.

The first radial rib 11 and the second radial rib 12 preferably have a solid structure made of a biocompatible metallic material, preferably titanium or an alloy thereof, used to compose the granule 10.

These solid ribs 11,12 therefore have the appearance of mutually perpendicular radial strands of material conforming to the central core 13, also having a solid structure.

For example, with reference to the figures and in particular to fig. 1, the particle 10 of the invention also comprises a zone 14 with a trabecular structure which affects the portion of said particle 10 extending from the outer surface 10a of the particle itself to the outer surface 13a of said central core 13, as can be seen for example in fig. 2 and 3.

In particular in fig. 3, in which a section with radial planes of the granule 10 according to the invention is shown, the reference numeral 14 designates a region with a trabecular structure, the remainder of the granule being a central core 13 extending beyond the radial ribs 11 and 12 and having a solid structure.

Referring again to fig. 3, the letters a, b and c respectively denote: the width of the ribs 11 and 12, preferably 0.5 mm; the internal diameter of the central core 13, preferably equal to 2.5 mm; and the outer diameter of the granules 10, preferably equal to 3.3 mm.

The particles 10 of the invention are advantageously prepared by a manufacturing technique of local micro-casting of powders (metal or polymer) via a high-energy electron beam.

These techniques, known as EBM (electron beam melt forming), are currently extremely advanced manufacturing techniques that enable the manufacture of articles with very complex geometries and with different surface roughness starting from the computer design of the final product, in which the machining is performed using programmed machines for directing the electron beam to act.

Electron beam melting is a relatively new rapid prototyping technique for producing implant structures and is capable of producing complex three-dimensional geometries.

Using this technique, the applicant developed the particle 10 of the invention in which the part with a regular trabecular structure has a pore size between one trabecular and the other in the order of hundreds of microns.

More particularly, the regular trabecular structure has a pore diameter of 400-800 microns, even more preferably a pore diameter of about 600 microns, preferably 640 microns.

In particular, since titanium or titanium alloys have a modulus of elasticity very close to that of natural trabecular bone, trabecular structures made of titanium or titanium alloys restore physiological transfer of load and avoid bone damage and actually promote bone regeneration.

Referring again to the particular configuration of the particle 10 according to the invention, the zone 14 with a trabecular structure relates at least to the portion of said particle 10 extending from the outer surface of the particle itself to said central core 13, which advantageously has a trabecular structure obtained via EBM manufacturing techniques using software elements of the known type known as "Dode-thin".

With particular reference to FIG. 4, this figure schematically shows a software implementation of a grid structure of the "Dode-thin" type; FIG. 5A shows the orientation of the "Dode-thin" element, which corresponds to the hexahedral geometry conforming to the surface of the three-dimensional trabecular structure as shown in FIG. 5B; and fig. 6A shows the orientation of the "Dode-thin" elements, which corresponds to the octahedral geometry that coincides with the diagonal (45 °) of the three-dimensional trabecular structure as shown in fig. 6B.

Starting from a design with details such as those shown in fig. 4, the CAD-CAM software implements a grid construction according to the known "Dode-thin" elements, eventually obtaining the product shown in fig. 1 and 2 by EBM techniques.

The applicant has also verified the particular conformation of the granule 10 according to the invention, in particular the presence of the solid radial ribs 11,12 extending from the solid central core 13, and the large trabecular zone 14 extending from the outer surface 13a of the central core 13 to the outer portion 10a of the granule 10, thus enabling the mechanical action in vivo implantation, allowing to support the load and immediately reach the main stability of the implant.

The characteristics of the granules made of biocompatible metallic material, in particular titanium or alloys thereof, for the vertebroplasty procedure, as well as the relative advantages, will be evident from the above description.

It will be appreciated that the particles for vertebroplasty procedures may be subject to various modifications and/or variations within the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

In particular, the materials as well as the dimensions may also vary according to requirements.