Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A fiber reinforcing material for incorporation into a two component bone cement including particulate polymer component and a polymerizable liquid monomer component and which reinforcing material can be readily incorporated by manual mixing into the bone cement by a surgeon during a surgical operation, said reinforcing material comprising a bundle of reinforcing fibers held together by an adhesive material which is soluble in the liquid monomer component of the two component bone cement, the fibers of said bundle having a diameter in the range of from about 5 to about 100 microns and a length in the range of from about 0.5 to about 10 millimeters, and the length-to-diameter ratio of said bundle being in the range of from about 10:1 to about 1:10.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
124 words
A fiber reinforcing material for incorporation into a two component bone cement including particulate polymer component and a polymerizable liquid monomer component and which reinforcing material can be readily incorporated by manual mixing into the bone cement by a surgeon during a surgical operation, said reinforcing material comprising a bundle of reinforcing fibers held together by an adhesive material which is soluble in the liquid monomer component of the two component bone cement, the fibers of said bundle having a diameter in the range of from about 5 to about 100 microns and a length in the range of from about 0.5 to about 10 millimeters, and the length-to-diameter ratio of said bundle being in the range of from about 10:1 to about 1:10.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 1 wherein the reinforcing fibers comprise metallic fibers.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
14 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 2 wherein the metal fibers comprise titanium fibers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
15 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 1 wherein the adhesive material comprises an acrylic adhesive.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 4 wherein the acrylic adhesive comprises an acrylate or methacrylate adhesive.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 1 wherein the reinforcing fibers have a diameter of from about 10 to about 80 microns and a length of from about 1 to about 8 millimeters.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
18 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 1 which comprises from about 50 to about 500 fibers per bundle.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
18 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 1 which comprises from about 100 to about 300 fibers per bundle.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
The fiber reinforcing material of claim 1 wherein the length-to-diameter ratio is from about 3:1 to about 1:3.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
108 words
A bone cement treatment kit for bone repair or other treatment of a bone defect, said kit comprising (1) finely divided acrylic polymer and (2) polymerizable liquid acrylic monomer for preparation of bone cement useful in bone repair or other bone treatment, and (3) a reinforcing material comprising bundles of reinforcing fibers wherein the fibers of said bundles are bonded to each other by an adhesive material which is soluble in said liquid monomer (2), whereby when said components (1), (2) and (3) are combined the adhesive material dissolves in said liquid monomer and allows said fibers to be homogeneously distributed throughout said bone cement by manual mixing.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
108 words
A bone cement treatment kit for bone repair or other treatment of a bone defect, said kit comprising (1) finely divided acrylic polymer and (2) polymerizable liquid acrylic monomer for preparation of bone cement useful in bone repair or other bone treatment, and (3) a reinforcing material comprising bundles of reinforcing fibers wherein the fibers of said bundles are bonded to each other by an adhesive material which is soluble in said liquid monomer (2), whereby when said components (1), (2) and (3) are combined the adhesive material dissolves in said liquid monomer and allows said fibers to be homogeneously distributed throughout said bone cement by manual mixing.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
The kit of claim 10 wherein said fibers are comprised of metal and have a diameter in the range of from about 10 to about 100 microns and a length in the range of from about 0.5 to about 10 millimeters.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
13 words
The kit of claim 11 wherein the metal reinforcing fibers comprise titanium fibers.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
The kit of claim 12 wherein said bundles of reinforcing fibers have a length-to-diameter ratio of from about 1 to about 1:10.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
The kit of claim 10 wherein said bundles of reinforcing fibers have a length-to-diameter ratio of from about 1 to about 1:10.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
39 words
The kit of claim 10 wherein said prepolymer (1) comprises a methacrylate or acrylate polymer, said liquid monomer (2) comprises a polymerizable acrylate, methacrylate or methylmethacrylate monomer, and the adhesive material (3) comprises an acrylate or methacrylate based adhesive.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
16 words
The kit of claim 10 wherein each of components (1), (2) and (3) are separately packaged.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
18 words
The kit of claim 10 wherein components (1) and (3) are premixed and component (2) is packaged separately.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
17 words
The kit of claim 16 wherein said package containing said prepolymer (1) further comprises a polymerization initiator.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
91 words
A method for forming a fiber reinforced bone cement for bone repair or other treatment of bone, said method comprising first mixing a powdery polymer component of said bone cement and a plurality of reinforcing fiber bundles, each of said bundles comprising a plurality of short reinforcing fibers bonded together by an adhesive material, and thereafter mixing said fiber-polymer mixture with a polymerizable liquid monomer component of said bone cement which can dissolve said adhesive material and thereby promote uniform and homogeneous distribution of said reinforcing fibers throughout said bone cement.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
91 words
A method for forming a fiber reinforced bone cement for bone repair or other treatment of bone, said method comprising first mixing a powdery polymer component of said bone cement and a plurality of reinforcing fiber bundles, each of said bundles comprising a plurality of short reinforcing fibers bonded together by an adhesive material, and thereafter mixing said fiber-polymer mixture with a polymerizable liquid monomer component of said bone cement which can dissolve said adhesive material and thereby promote uniform and homogeneous distribution of said reinforcing fibers throughout said bone cement.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 19 which further comprises chilling the polymerizable liquid monomer prior to mixing the liquid monomer with said fiber-polymer mixture.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 19 wherein the amount of fibers mixed with said powdery polymer comprises up to about 5% by volume, based on the total volume of the bone cement.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 19 wherein said fiber bundles comprise from about 50 to about 500 reinforcing fibers, per bundle, said reinforcing fibers having a diameter of from about 5 to about 100 microns and a length of from about 0.5 to about 10 millimeters, said bundles having a length-to-diameter ratio of from about 10:1 to about 1:10.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 22 wherein said reinforcing fibers comprise titanium fibers.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
129 words
A method of forming a fiber reinforced bone cement for bone repair or other treatment of bone, said method comprising premixing a powdery or granular polymer component of said bone cement and a liquid polymerizable monomer component of said bone cement which is a solvent for said polymer component to form a viscous liquid mixture, gradually adding to said liquid mixture a plurality of bundles of short reinforcing fibers, the fibers of said bundles being glued together by an adhesive which is soluble in said liquid monomer and stirring the resulting mixture to distribute the fiber bundles throughout the mixture, while allowing the adhesive component to dissolve in said liquid monomer whereby the individual fibers of said fiber bundles are released into and randomly distributed throughout the bone cement.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
129 words
A method of forming a fiber reinforced bone cement for bone repair or other treatment of bone, said method comprising premixing a powdery or granular polymer component of said bone cement and a liquid polymerizable monomer component of said bone cement which is a solvent for said polymer component to form a viscous liquid mixture, gradually adding to said liquid mixture a plurality of bundles of short reinforcing fibers, the fibers of said bundles being glued together by an adhesive which is soluble in said liquid monomer and stirring the resulting mixture to distribute the fiber bundles throughout the mixture, while allowing the adhesive component to dissolve in said liquid monomer whereby the individual fibers of said fiber bundles are released into and randomly distributed throughout the bone cement.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 24 wherein the fiber bundles are added in an amount to provide from about 1 to about 10% by volume of the bone cement.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 24 wherein the fiber bundles are added in an amount to provide from about 3 to about 10% by volume of the bone cement.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 24 which further comprises chilling the liquid monomer prior to premixing with the powdery polymer.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 24 wherein said fiber bundles comprise from about 50 to about 500 reinforcing fibers, per bundle, said reinforcing fibers having a diameter of from about 5 to about 100 microns and a length of from about 0.5 to about 10 millimeters, said bundles having a length-to-diameter ratio of from about 10:1 to about 1:10.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 28 wherein said reinforcing fibers comprise titanium fibers.