Porous flexible metal fiber material for surgical implantation

Claim 2

A biocompatible flexible and deformable porous metallic fiber mesh sheet consisting essentially of a multiplicity of interengaged and intertwined biologically inert metallic fibers, each of said fibers having a length in the range of about 2 to about 50 millimeters, and a diameter in the range of about 20 to about 200 micrometers; said fibers being interengaged and intertwined with each other to form a porous mesh having a porosity of at least about 65% and a thickness in the range of from about 0.5 to about 30 millimeters, said mesh sheet being flexible and deformable without losing its structural integrity and being characterized by a porosity such that bony tissue can penetrate into the pores of said mesh when said mesh is pressed against the surface of the skeletal structure of a living human or animal.

Claim 3

A porous fiber mesh sheet according to claim 1 wherein said metallic fibers are sintered at their points of contact.

Claim 4

A porous fiber mesh sheet according to claim 2 wherein said biocompatible metal fibers are selected from the group consisting of cobalt-chromium alloy, titanium, titanium alloy, tantalum, tantalum alloy, stainless steel, niobium and niobium alloy.

Claim 5

A porous fiber mesh sheet according to claim 3 wherein said metallic fibers are titanium metal fibers.

Claim 6

*5 . A porous fiber mesh sheet according to claim 1 which has a porosity such that at least 50 percent of the pores of the mesh have a pore size of at least about 150 micrometers.

Claim 7

A porous fiber mesh sheet according to claim wherein said fibers have a length in the range of from about 8 to about 25 millimeters, a diameter in the range of from about 40 to about 100 micrometers and a length-to-diamcter ratio of at least about 125; said porous mesh having a porosity of between about 70% and about 95% and a thickness in the range of from about 1 to about 15 millimeters.

Claim 8

In a method of replacing a defective portion of a human or. animal skeleton with an artificial prosthetic device having the general configuration of the defective portion by surgically removing the defective portion, forming a receiving surface in the remaining portion of the skeleton, mating the prosthetic device with the receiving surface and securing the prosthetic device to the receiving surface, the improvement comprising, prior to mating the prosthetic device with the receiving surface, pressing at least one sheet of the porous fiber mesh of claim 1 on said receiving surface thereby deforming said mesh to conform to said receiving surface, forming a layer of bone cement on the exposed surface of said mesh and placing said prosthetic device against said layer of bone cement whereby the bone cement is forced into the pores of said porous mesh over a portion of the thickness of said mesh to provide immediate stabilization of said prostheti device while long term stabilization of said prosthetic device is provided by bony tissue ingrowth from said receiving surface into the pores of said porous mesh.

Claim 9

A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein said artificial prosthetic device is a hip femur prosthesis including a stem portion and ball portion and said receiving surface comprises the walls of a cavity formed in the femur for receiving said stem portion, said method comprising pressing at least one layer of said porous mesh against the walls of said cavity to form a central opening for said stem portion such that the diameter of said opening is from about 2 to about 8 millimeters. more than the diameter of said stem along the length thereof, and filling said receptacle with bone cement and said stem portion such that the thickness of the layer of bone cement formed between said porous mesh and said stem portion is in the range of from about 1 to about 4 millimeters.

Claim 10

A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein said artificial prosthetic device is an acetabular component and the receiving surface comprises the acetabular floor whereby one side of said porous mesh becomes filled with bone cement and the opposite side is filled with bony tissue from the growth of said acetabular floor.

Claim 11

In a method for repairing or reconstructing a defective bone structure,including at least one crack or void, in humans and animals by replacing or reconstructing the defective bone structure with a biocompatible porous insert material, the improvement comprising using at least one layer of the porous mesh sheet of claim 1 as said porous insert material by packing the crack or void with said at least one layer of porous mesh sheet so that said porous mesh conforms to the healthy bone surface in the vicinity of said crack or void whereby bony tissue can grow. into the pores of the porous mesh.