The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 24, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 29, 1997
Simon Raab, Longwood, FL (US);
Xenon Research, Inc., Lake Mary, FL (US);
Abstract
A bone connective prosthesis and method of forming same comprising the addition of a biocompatible plasticizer to a PMMA film and/or bone cement, which preferably copolymerizes with the PMMA film and/or bone cement. Preferably, this plasticizer comprises the FDA approved, biocompatible hydrophilic monomer known as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (commonly referred to as 'HEMA') and its associated water. HEMA has the ability to absorb water. An important feature of this invention is that this ability to absorb water results in a measurable and controllable plasticization. In one embodiment of the present invention, the plasticizer (HEMA and its associated water) copolymerizes with the PMMA film to form a PMMA/HEMA coating which is preferably used as a coating on a bone prosthesis. In a further embodiment, the plasticizer (HEMA and its associated water) copolymerizes with a PMMA base bone cement to form a PMMA/HEMA bone cement. In accordance with the present invention, one side of a PMMA/HEMA copolymer film is disposed on at least a portion of the surface of a prosthetic element. The other side of the copolymer film forms a bonding surface, wherein the bonding surface is adapted to be fixedly attached to a bone by a bone cement. Preferably, a PMMA/HEMA copolymer bone cement is used to fixedly adhere the prosthesis to the bone. The weight ratio of PMMA and HEMA in the copolymer bonding film or bone cement is not critical; however, the portion of HEMA should suitably be in the range between 2 weight % and 99 weight %.