Particulate alloplastic bone replacement material and method for producing a free-formed porous body

Abstract

Particulate alloplastic bone replacement material and methods comprise a multitude of particles, whereby the particles comprise a core and at least six pins extending from the core, whereby the pins each comprise at least one connecting element, and whereby the pins are deformable elastically such that, upon multiple particles being pressed together, the connecting elements of different particles interlock with and/or snap into each other and the particles that are interlocked with and/or snapped into each other form an open-pored body of particles that are interlocked with and/or snapped into each other.

1 . Particulate alloplastic bone replacement material comprising a multitude of particles, wherein the particles comprise a core and at least six pins extending from the core, wherein the pins each comprise at least one connecting element, and wherein the pins are deformable elastically such that, upon multiple particles being pressed together, the connecting elements of different particles interlock with and/or snap into each other and the particles that are interlocked with and/or snapped into each other form an open-pored body of particles that are interlocked with and/or snapped into each other. 
     
     
         2 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the connecting elements are mushrooms, hooks, undercuts, snap-in elements and/or opposite snap-in means. 
     
     
         3 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are spherical. 
     
     
         4 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the pins of the particles extend radially away from the core. 
     
     
         5 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the connecting elements are provided on the jacket surface of the pins. 
     
     
         6 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles that are pressed into each other interlock with and/or snap into each other irreversibly. 
     
     
         7 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles have a maximal cross-section of no more than 10 mm or a maximal cross-section between 1 mm and 4 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are produced with a generative 3D printing procedure. 
     
     
         9 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one connecting elements per pin has a truncated cone shape, wherein the longitudinal axes of the pins form the longitudinal axes of the cones and wherein the jacket of the cones faces toward the outer side that faces away from the core. 
     
     
         10 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one connecting elements per pin is provided in the form of a hook or as a mushroom head. 
     
     
         11 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the pins contain a circumferential groove as additional connecting element between the core and at least one of the at least one connecting elements, wherein connecting elements of other particles can interlock with or snap into said groove such that no further motion of the connecting elements along the pins is possible. 
     
     
         12 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least two connecting elements are arranged in succession on the jacket surface of the pins. 
     
     
         13 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are sphere-shaped, bean-shaped, cuboid-shaped, cube-shaped and/or polyhedral, preferably having cubic, octahedral, dodecahedral, icosahedral and/or triacontahedral symmetry. 
     
     
         14 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles have a maximal cross-section of more than 1 mm. 
     
     
         15 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are made from biocompatible plastic material, stainless steel, titanium, a titanium alloy, tantalum, a tantalum alloy or composites of said materials. 
     
     
         16 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein neighbouring pins of a particle are situated at an appropriate distance from each other such that the pins of the particle, after elastic deformation due to interlocking and/or snapping into a connecting element of another particle, enable at least two interlocks and/or snap-in connections to two other particles. 
     
     
         17 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are suspended in an aqueous or non-aqueous solution of biocompatible polymers and/or oligomers, and the particles and the solution, together, form a pasty mass. 
     
     
         18 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are suspended in a low-molecular liquid that is hydrophobic at room temperature, and the particles and the liquid, together, form a pasty mass. 
     
     
         19 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are mixed with inorganic or organic particulate bone replacement material and/or autologous or, also, allogenic cancellous bone. 
     
     
         20 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are suspended in a biocompatible liquid that contains one or more pharmaceutical agents, whereby the pharmaceutical agent or agents is/are suspended and/or dissolved in the liquid. 
     
     
         21 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles are coated with one or more pharmaceutical agents from the groups of antibiotics, bisphosphonates, steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, growth factors, and cytostatic agents. 
     
     
         22 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles comprise at least fourteen pins extending from the core. 
     
     
         23 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the pores of the open-pored body formed from the particles are interconnecting and osteoconductive, wherein the pores have a free cross-section between 0.1 mm and 1 mm or between 0.25 mm and 0.9 mm. 
     
     
         24 . The bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , wherein the bone replacement material comprises at least one plate aside from the particles, wherein the at least one plate comprises a planar structure and a plurality of pins extending out of the planar structure of the at least one plate, wherein the pins each comprise at least one connecting element that is designed in analogous manner to the connecting elements of the particles such that the particles and the at least one plate interlock with and/or snap into each other by pressing the connecting elements of various plates and particles onto each other, and wherein the plates and particles that are interlocked with and/or snapped into each other form an open-pored body of plates and particles that are interlocked with and/or snapped into each other. 
     
     
         25 . A method for forming a body made of the bone replacement material according to  claim 1 , in which the particles are pushed against each other, whereby the particles interlock with and/or snap into each other and form an open-pored body. 
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein the particles are contacted to each other before they are pushed against each other. 
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein the particles are being connected to a porous three-dimensional body of a second bone replacement material by snapping-in and/or interlocking the connecting elements with the pores of the second bone replacement material, and/or the particles are being connected to a planar third bone replacement material comprising a plurality of pins comprising connecting elements, wherein the pins and the connecting elements of the planar third bone replacement material comprise the features of the pins and connecting elements of the particles of the bone replacement material according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         28 . Implant material, in trauma surgery, orthopaedics or veterinary medicine, comprising the bone replacement material according to  claim 1 .