|Numéro de publication||US7905902 B2|
|Type de publication||Octroi|
|Numéro de demande||US 10/462,553|
|Date de publication||15 mars 2011|
|Date de dépôt||16 juin 2003|
|Date de priorité||16 juin 2003|
|État de paiement des frais||Payé|
|Autre référence de publication||US20040254608|
|Numéro de publication||10462553, 462553, US 7905902 B2, US 7905902B2, US-B2-7905902, US7905902 B2, US7905902B2|
|Inventeurs||Thomas W. Huitema, Gary W. Knight, Mark H. Ransick, Dale R. Schulze|
|Cessionnaire d'origine||Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.|
|Exporter la citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Citations de brevets (33), Citations hors brevets (2), Référencé par (56), Classifications (13), Événements juridiques (2)|
|Liens externes: USPTO, Cession USPTO, Espacenet|
The present invention relates, in general, to the field of surgery and, more particularly, to surgical implants made of metal.
Surgeons implant a wide variety of metallic, ceramic, and polymeric materials into patients. Surgeons use metallic implants primarily for orthopedic purposes, but additional applications include wound closure (internal and external), reconstructive surgery, cosmetic surgery, wire leads, heart valve parts, aneurysm clips, and dental uses. Because metals have favorable mechanical properties, including elasticity, deformability, and stability, metallic implants are generally less bulky than their non-metallic counterparts—an important precondition for application to minimally invasive surgery. Metallic implants must withstand and function within the body environment at least for a certain period of time. Therefore, the rate and type of structural degradation, via corrosion and other processes while in vivo, is an important consideration in the design of surgical implants. In addition, corrosion of metallic implants is an important consideration for biocompatibility, due to the release of metal ions into the body environment.
Some of the metals currently used for surgical implants include stainless steel (AISI type 316L), cobalt-chromium-molybdenum-carbon, cobalt-chromium-tungsten-nickel, cobalt-nickel-chromium-molybdenum, titanium, Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-3Al-2.5V, and tantalum. These metals transition from an active to a passive state by developing a protective surface oxide film when used as implants and are highly corrosion resistant in saline environments such as in the body.
The body recognizes surgical implants as foreign objects, potentially leading to local and possibly systemic reactions. Permanent metallic implants are particularly undesirable for young patients because retention for decades is unavoidable. Some metallic implants including, for example, surgical staples, clips, and vascular stents, may be constructed of metals that corrode quickly in the body. The corrosion by-products are harmlessly absorbed by the body or passed through the digestive system. For example, a surgical staple made from commercially pure iron may corrode in animal soft tissue within a few weeks, but the staple would have sufficient structural integrity for a long enough period of time, usually several days, to allow healing of the tissues involved. The surgical staple may also be made of other absorbable metals, including carbon steel. The absorption of small amounts of corrosion by-products (for iron or carbon steel, the primary by-product is iron oxide or rust,) is not known to have any significant, deleterious effect on the body. The ferromagnetic property of iron and carbon steel is a factor relative to their compatibility with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), although the very small mass of some implants, such as surgical staples, and the very short time they are present in the body before corroding and being absorbed, allows the beneficial use of such materials. Other benefits of absorbable staples include reducing scatter on X-ray images, minimizing future adhesions, and avoiding staple lines in future surgical procedures.
Corrosion is primarily the result of an electrochemical reaction of a metal with its environment and occurs because the metal oxide or corrosion product is more stable thermodynamically than the metal. Electrochemical deterioration of the metal occurs as positive metal ions are released from the reaction site (anode) and electrons are made available to flow to a protected site (cathode). The electrochemical reaction cell consists of two conducting and electrically connected electrodes in an electrolytic solution. The two electrodes can be dissimilar metals, or they can result from different surface areas of the same metal, defects, impurities, precipitate phases, concentration differences of gas, solution or metal ions, or other variables. The rate at which the corrosion reaction proceeds is primarily related to environmental composition and effects, such as motion or load. The physiological environment in the human body contains chloride ions (Cl−) and is controlled at a pH level of 7.4 and a temperature of 37 degrees C. (98.6 degrees F.). Following surgery, the pH can increase to 7.8, decrease to 5.5, and then return to 7.4 within a few weeks. These variations are caused by infection, hematoma, and physiological solutions administered during and after surgery.
Corrosion resistance of a metal is specific to a number of factors, including composition, changes in metallurgical heat treatment, microstructural phases present, and surface finish. The rate of corrosion of a metal can be slowed or halted by applying a coating, such as a moisture barrier, that shields the metal from the corrosive environment. Conversely, creating an even harsher corrosive environment can accelerate the corrosion rate of a metal. In addition, it is possible to cause the corrosion process to be focused on a localized area of the metal. By using these principles and biasing the corrosion process to take place at a desired rate and/or at a desired location of the metal, it is possible to design a metallic, surgical implant that corrodes within the body in a beneficial manner.
Each of the many surgical implants that may be made from an absorbable metal has a shape that is designed specifically for its deployment into tissue and its initial, primary function, such as holding tissue layers together during wound healing. As the implant corrodes, the ability of the implant to perform its primary function degrades. Biasing the corrosion rate and location on the implant allows the implant to fragment in a desirable way during the early stages of the corrosion process. For example, physical attributes of the implant important for deployment into tissue are not necessarily desirable thereafter while implanted in the body. The sharp tips of a surgical staple are necessary for penetration into tissue during deployment, but can cause prolonged pain or irritation to the patient thereafter. Procedures with such post-surgical complaints by patients include inguinal hernia repair and hysterectomy (in which a male sexual partner experiences the discomfort.) Also, in some situations, it would be advantageous for the implant to corrode in a specific manner, so that the ability of the implant to perform its primary function even improves. For example, surgical staplers commonly referred to in the art as circular staplers are used to perform an end-to-end or end-to-side anastomosis of hollow organs such as the large or small intestines. The surgeon uses the circular stapler to deploy a plurality of tiny, surgical staples evenly spaced apart in a pair of concentric circular staplelines (or more simply, “staple circles”) around a lumen, in order to connect the two organs together in fluid communication. Each staple is formed into a “B-shape” to clinch tissue layers together. A ring of relatively inelastic scar tissue forms over these staple circles. By using surgical staples that initially corrode and fragment from “B-shapes” into “two half B-shapes”, the primary tissue holding function of the staples is not compromised, yet the staple circles are more flexible and easily dilated.
What is needed, therefore, is a surgical implant made of a metal that corrodes and becomes absorbed in the body without compromising the primary function of the implant, and the rate of corrosion on at least a portion of the implant is alterable in order to provide benefit to the patient.
The present invention is a surgical implant made of a metal that corrodes while implanted in the tissue of a patient, and the surgical implant has a preferential corrosion zone adapted to corrode at a different rate than the rest of the surgical implant. For the embodiments described herein, the surgical implant is illustrated as a surgical staple that may be formed into a “B-shape” when deployed into tissue, although the present invention also is applicable to many other kinds of staples, clips, and other metallic surgical implants.
In one embodiment, the preferential corrosion zone comprises an indentation that provides a site for crevice corrosion.
In another embodiment, the surgical implant has a coating over at least a portion of its surface, and the preferential corrosion zone comprises an uncoated region. The coating may be, but is not limited to, one of the following: parylene, sodium stearate, calcium stearate, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene teraphthalate, gold, and silver.
In another embodiment, the surgical implant develops the preferential corrosion zone during deployment of the surgical implant into the tissue of the patient. In one version of this embodiment, the preferential corrosion zone comprises a coating that develops a plurality of cracks or otherwise becomes altered during deployment of the surgical implant, thereby exposing at least a portion of the metal of the surgical implant to the tissue of the patient.
In a further embodiment, the surgical implant is a surgical staple that is deployable together and in physical contact with a buttress into the tissue of the patient, and the preferential corrosion zone comprises an interface between the surgical staple and the buttress. In one version of this embodiment, the buttress contains a corrosion promoting material that increases the electrochemical corrosion rate in the preferential corrosion zone of the surgical staple. In another version of this embodiment, the buttress is cathodic with respect to the surgical staple, and the surgical staple galvanically corrodes at an interface between the buttress and the surgical staple.
In all of the aforementioned embodiments, the surgical implant may comprise various metals, including without limitation: commercially pure iron; low carbon steel; medium carbon steel; high carbon steel; an alloy whose main constituent is selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, iron, zinc, or aluminum; and combinations thereof. As used herein “commercially pure iron” means at least about 99.85 percent by weight Fe, no more than 0.06 percent by weight carbon, the balance impurities and/or trace elements. In one embodiment, the surgical implant can be formed of commercially pure iron comprising at least 99.995% Fe. As used herein “low carbon steel” means carbon steel comprising less than about 0.30 percent by weight carbon. As used herein “medium carbon steel” means carbon steel comprising between about 0.30 and about 0.85 percent by weight carbon. As used herein “high carbon steel” means carbon steel comprising more than about 0.85 percent by weight carbon and less than about 2.0 percent by weight carbon. The surgical implant may also be formed of ductile iron having from about 3.5 to about 4.5 percent carbon content by weight. All percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated.
The present invention is a surgical implant made, at least in part, of a metal that corrodes and is absorbed within a patient, and at least one portion of the surgical implant, hereinafter referred to as a preferential corrosion zone, is adapted to corrode at a different rate than the remaining portion(s). Those skilled in the art may adapt the present invention to various surgical implants, including surgical clips, staples, stents, bone anchors, and generally, for metal surgical implants for which it is advantageous to the patient to cause the surgical implant to degrade, fragment, or physically reconfigure in a particular manner while in a patient. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention include various types of surgical staples, for which a detailed description follows.
Each of the embodiments of surgical staples described herein is made of a metal that electrochemically or galvanically corrodes upon prolonged exposure to the environment in live body tissues and fluids. The surgical staple is made of a metal that corrodes and becomes absorbed by the body during a predetermined period of time typically ranging from approximately four to ten weeks. Numerous metals are suitable for the present invention and include iron, carbon steel, or an alloy whose main constituent is an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, iron, zinc, or aluminum. The surgical staple may be made from commercially pure iron wire. In one embodiment, the surgical staple may be formed of commercially pure iron wire comprising about 99.995% iron, about 100 ppm (parts per million) of oxygen, and only traces (less than 10 ppm) of other elements, including cobalt, nickel, silicon, and sulfur. The surgical staple may also be made of an iron containing alloy containing, for example, 0.05% to 7% by weight carbon. Carbon steel is known to corrode in an aqueous environment as fast or faster than commercially pure iron, but is generally less ductile and harder to draw into wire. Pure iron also work hardens well and has little “spring back, ” which are desirable characteristics for surgical staples that are formed into a “B-shape” as will be described.
In the embodiment shown, indentation 18 has a width W and a depth D and comprises a preferential corrosion zone when staple 10 is implanted in tissue of a patient. Width W can be about 0.05 to about 0.100 mm wide and depth D may extend into staple 10 about 0.05 to about 0.20 mm deep. Indentation 18 may also have many other configurations or orientations and still comprise a preferential corrosion zone on staple 10. In general, indentation 18 can be provided to be generally wide enough to permit liquid entry, but sufficiently narrow to maintain a stagnant zone. Staple 10 may also include more than one preferential corrosion zone similar to indentation 18 and located on other parts of staple 10.
Without being limited by theory, it is believed that
Oxidation M→M+ +e
Initially, these reactions occur uniformly over the entire surface, including the interior of indentation 18. Charge conservation is maintained in both the metal and solution. Every electron produced during the formation of a metal ion is immediately consumed by the oxygen reduction reaction. Also, one hydroxyl ion is produced for every metal ion in the solution. After a short interval, the oxygen within indentation 18 is depleted because of the restricted convection, so oxygen reduction ceases in this area, but the dissolution of metal M continues as shown in
An aqueous solution of a typical metal chloride dissociates into an insoluble hydroxide and a free acid. Both chloride and hydrogen ions accelerate the dissolution rates of most metals. These are both present in indentation 18 as a result of migration and hydrolysis, consequently the dissolution rate of M is increased, thus increasing migration, and the result is a rapidly accelerating, or autocatalytic, process. Once crevice corrosion has started, it proceeds at an ever-increasing rate. Staple 10 corrodes and breaks apart at the preferential corrosion zone (indentation 18) first, before any other portion of staple 10 fragments. Therefore, it is possible to cause staple 10 to degrade and fragment in an advantageous manner, as will be described.
Surgical staplers typically deploy a plurality of surgical staples into tissue, where the staples are spaced apart in parallel staple lines or concentric staple circles. For example, the CDH25 Circular Surgical Stapler (Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio) deploys ten evenly spaced-apart staples in each of two concentric staple circles, for creating an end-to-end bowel anastomosis having a lumen diameter of approximately 25 mm.
Still referring to
When staple 50, shown in
In a fifth embodiment of the present invention (not shown in the Figures), a preferential corrosion zone can be created on a surgical staple by locally work hardening a portion of the staple, such as the crown, to create an area that is more anodic and susceptible to corrosion than the rest of the staple. The work hardening (also referred to as strain hardening) causes lattice strains and other material, causing a “little anode, big cathode” configuration, and resulting in rapid local corrosion in the work hardened area.
We have shown numerous alternate embodiments of the present invention, but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are only examples, and that there are numerous variations and substitutions possible without departing from invention. It will also be understood that various features and element of the claimed invention can be alternatively described in terms of a means for performing the function provided by the feature and/or element. We intend that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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|Classification aux États-Unis||606/220, 606/232, 606/219|
|Classification internationale||A61B17/00, A61B17/08, A61B17/064|
|Classification coopérative||A61L31/10, A61L31/022, A61L31/082, A61L31/14, A61B2017/00004, A61B17/0644|
|16 juin 2003||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: ETHICON ENDO-SURGERY, INC., OHIO
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:HUITEMA, THOMAS W.;KNIGHT, GARY W;RANSICK, MARK H.;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:014194/0102;SIGNING DATES FROM 20030612 TO 20030616
Owner name: ETHICON ENDO-SURGERY, INC., OHIO
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:HUITEMA, THOMAS W.;KNIGHT, GARY W;RANSICK, MARK H.;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20030612 TO 20030616;REEL/FRAME:014194/0102
|20 août 2014||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4