Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation

David W Wood

James L Melquist

Donald J Bridges

Walter A Phillips

An implant device material is provided for replacement or augmentation of living bone tissue involving a thermoplastic syntactic foam material formed from microballoons, a polymer such as polyetherimide which wets and binds the microballons into an array, and interstitial space is present between the microballoons bound into the array to create porosity. A fiber material can be embedded within the array. The thermoplastic syntactic foam material is highly biocompatible and stable with no apparent adverse effects on a recipient. The implant device material also effectively conducts bone into the porous implant via its controlled interstitial porosity. The implant material also can be readily molded or machined into complex structural shapes, density and porosity, such that it can be closely tailored to mimic the natural bone tissue to be replaced.

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Tempe, AZ, United States of America

David W Wood