Provided herein are compositions and methods for treating bone fractures. In particular, provided herein are systems comprising carbon fiber sleeves and biocompatible polymers and the use of such systems in treating or preventing bone fractures.

Bone-contacting surfaces and free surfaces of orthopedic implants. The implants are additively manufactured, followed by mechanical, chemical, or mechanical and chemical erosion. At least some of the surfaces of the implants include an osteoinducting roughness that has micro-scale structures and nano-scale structures that facilitate and enhance osteoinduction and osteogenesis, as well as enhanced alkaline phosphatase, osterix, and osteocalcin expression levels along the pathway of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation to osteoblasts.

Implants for vertebral body or functional spinal unit replacement comprise a bioactive surface roughening on one or more of the anterior, posterior, and lateral surfaces of the implant. The bioactive surface includes macro-, micro-, and nano-scale structural features that contact vertebral bone that lines a specialized channel in a vertebrae, and thereby facilitate bone growth and osteointegration of the implant with the vertebral bone.

This invention discloses a reticulated film composite and a method of fabricating a reticulated film composite suitable as a 3 dimensional porous and conductive matrix which contains up to 80% porosity and exhibits high recovery after compression. The reticulated film composite is produced by casting and drying of a slurry which exhibits a high yield stress (i.e. greater than 50 dyne/cm2) and comprised of a high MW resin dissolved in a solvent (i.e. having solution viscosity of higher than 100 cp at 5% in NMP at room temperature) and dispersed nanoparticles of carbon of high specific surface areas (i.e. greater than 1 m2/g preferably greater than 10 m2/g), examples include but not limited to conductive carbon, carbon nanotubes, graphene, activated carbon or mixture thereof. This reticulated film composite exhibits high electrical conductivity (i.e. volume resistivity of less than 10,000 Ω.Math.cm) and superior dimensional stability even at elevated temperatures (i.e. at 140° C.). It will exhibit a recovery of height or porosity after being compressed to over 50% of its height. The composite of this invention is suitable as an electrically conductive composite, as a gas diffusion layer in a fuel cell, or as a high efficiency electrode in super capacitors

The shim-type implant for distraction and fusion of cervical facet joints is provided. The implant has a generally box-like shape with a blunt leading edge that may be centered or offset to the inferior face. The implant may include a graft window for enhanced osseous through-growth after implantation. The implant is coated with hydroxyapatite (HA) and/or tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) to allow for osteo-conduction, is porous, and has a roughened surface with serrations on the superior and inferior faces. The implant may be fabricated from a titanium or tantalum alloy. In an embodiment, a set of tools is provided with a chisel and one or tongs and one or more decorticators for inserting the implant.

A method for constructing a three-dimensional multi-scale surface to obtain controlled and improved physical and chemical configurations to promote the integration of orthopedic and/or dental implants, to human and/or animal tissues, in different shapes and geometries in a versatile manner, and can be applied to all types of metals, metal alloys and/or ceramic compounds. This method includes the modification at the macroscopic level of the roughness, with an objective of promoting the mechanical interlocking of the implant, followed by the modification of the surface for the formation of microtopography, then the microtopography is changed to obtain a nanotopography with characteristics that optimize cellular metabolic responses related to attraction, adhesion, spreading, proliferation and cell growth, in addition to phenotypic and genotypic inductions in undifferentiated cells and in osteoblast lineage, responsible for mineralization and bone neoformation. As a result, the interface between implant and bone is improved.

The invention relates to a joint implant for new tissue formation at a joint, the joint implant (1) comprising a pinlike body having a bottom region (11), a top region (12) and a shell region (13), wherein at least the top region (12), of the joint implant (1) has a hydrophobic surface for promoting chondroblastic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

An orthopedic prosthesis for stimulating bone growth may include a substrate having at least one bone-facing surface and at least one internal surface, at least one piezoelectric nanostructure coupled to the at least one bone-facing surface of the substrate, at least one charge storing material placed within the orthopedic prosthesis proximate the at least one internal surface, and an interconnect in electrical communication with the at least one piezoelectric nanostructure and the charge storing material. The at least one piezoelectric nanostructure may be configured to generate an electric charge in response to at least one mechanical force applied to the at least one piezoelectric nanostructure and the interconnect may be configured to transfer the electric charge to the at least one charge storing material to promote bone in-growth within the orthopedic prosthesis and/or on the at least one bone-facing surface.

Embodiments of nanostructures comprising metal oxide and methods for forming the nanostructure on surfaces are disclosed. In certain embodiments, the nanostructures can be formed on a substrate made of a nickel titanium alloy, resulting in a nanostructure containing both titanium oxide and nickel oxide. The nanostructure can include a lattice layer disposed on top of a nanotube layer. The distal surface of the lattice layer can have a titanium oxide to nickel oxide ratio of greater than 10:1, or about 17:1, resulting in a nanostructure that promotes human endothelial cell migration and proliferation at the interface between the lattice layer and human cells or tissue. The nanostructure may be formed on the outer surface of an implantable medical device, such a stent or an orthopedic implant (e.g. knee implant, bone screw, or bone staple).

A biological tissue rootage face (30) capable of closely bonding to a biological tissue (H, S) is composed of a biocompatible material and has numerous fingertip-shaped microvilli (41). The microvilli (41) have tip diameters in the order of nanometers. An implant (1) has the biological tissue rootage face (30) on a surface (11, 24) configured to root into a biological tissue (H, S). In a method for forming the biological tissue rootage face (30), a surface of a biocompatible material is subjected to laser nonthermal processing carried out by emitting a laser beam in air, to form numerous fingertip-shaped microvilli (41). The laser beam is a laser beam of an ultrashort pulse laser.