1. An implant comprising:
a metal composite which comprises:
a cellular nanomatrix comprising a metallic nanomatrix material; and
a metal matrix disposed in the cellular nanomatrix,
the implant being configured to disintegrate in response to contact with a fluid.
2. The implant of claim 1, wherein the metal matrix comprises magnesium.
3. The implant of claim 2, wherein the metal matrix further comprises aluminum, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, or a combination thereof.
4. The implant of claim 3, wherein the metal matrix is an alloy.
5. The implant of claim 1, wherein the metallic nanomatrix material comprises aluminum, calcium, cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, zinc, an intermetallic compound thereof, or a combination thereof.
6. The implant of claim 1, wherein the metal composite further comprises a disintegrating agent.
7. The implant of claim 6, wherein the disintegration agent comprises cobalt, copper, iron, nickel, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.
8. The implant of claim 7, wherein the implant comprises a plurality of components, each component comprising the metal composite and having a same or different disintegration rate.
9. The implant of claim 8, wherein the plurality of components comprises:
a first component; and
a second component attached to or interworking with the first component.
10. The implant of claim 1, wherein the metal matrix is present in an amount from 50 wt % to 99 wt %, based on the weight of the metal composite, and the metal nanomatrix material is present in an amount from 1 wt % to 30 wt %, based on the weight of the metal composite.
11. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant has a percent elongation from 0.1% to 25%, and the implant has a compressive strength of about 30 ksi to about 80 ksi.
12. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant is disintegrable in response to contact with a fluid which comprises blood, a blood substitute, saline, a salt, an organic acid, a buffer, an alkaline compound, a protein, an amino acid, a nucleic acid, an enzyme, a carbohydrate, a gas, bone marrow, a tissue, serum, plasma, urine, semen, a lacrimal secretion, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, sweat, synovial fluid, a mucous secretion, lymph, or a combination thereof.
13. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant has a disintegration rate from 0.1 mgcm2hr to 100 mgcm2hr.
14. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant is a pin, rod, plate, screw, nut, suture, stent, staple, scaffold, wire, prosthesis, nail, or a combination thereof.
15. A method for repairing tissue, the method comprising:
disposing an implant in a patient, the implant comprising a metal composite which comprises:
a cellular nanomatrix comprising a metallic nanomatrix material; and
a metal matrix disposed in the cellular nanomatrix;
contacting tissue of the patient with the implant, the tissue being in need of repair; and
non-operatively removing the implant to repair the tissue.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein non-operatively removing the implant comprises disintegrating the implant by contacting the implant with a fluid comprising blood, a blood substitute, saline, a salt, an organic acid, a buffer, an alkaline compound, a protein, an amino acid, a nucleic acid, an enzyme, a carbohydrate, a gas, bone marrow, a tissue, serum, plasma, urine, semen, a lacrimal secretion, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, sweat, synovial fluid, a mucous secretion, lymph, or a combination thereof.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the implant has an in vitro lifetime effective for the implant to stabilize the tissue during repair and to disintegrate at a rate such that an amount of gas production and blood alkalization from a product of disintegrating the implant is biologically tolerable and non-toxic to the patient.
18. The method of claim 15, further comprising bending, drilling, twisting, compressing, stretching the implant prior to disposing the implant in the patient, or a combination thereof.
19. The method of claim 15, further comprising growing additional tissue on the implant.
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the tissue comprises a first tissue and a second tissue that is different than the first tissue, and contacting the tissue of the patient with the implant comprises attaching the implant to the first tissue and the second tissue.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A communications protocol for providing a connection-oriented interconnection via an internet protocol communications system between a first mobile terminal and a node, in which the first mobile terminal and the node form part of an internet session; in which the first mobile terminal is initially connected to the node via a first mobile controller (MC) in which the protocol comprises means for providing to the first MC an internet address of the node and a record number identifying the internet session.
2. The communications protocol as a claimed in claim 1 in which the node comprises a fixed terminal, in which the fixed terminal is connected to the internet protocol communications system via a router;
in which the internet address identifies the router, and in which the record number is allocated by the router.
3. The communications protocol as claimed in claim 1 in which the node comprises a server; in which the internet address identifies the server, and in which the record number is allocated by the server.
4. The communications protocol as claimed in claim 1 in which the node comprises a further mobile terminal, in which the further mobile terminal is connected to the internet protocol communications system via a further MC;
in which the internet address identifies the further MC, and in which the record number is allocated by the further MC.
5. The communications protocol as claimed in any above claim including the step of maintaining the session as the interconnection between the first mobile terminal and the node is redirected from via the first MC to via a second MC.
6. The protocol as claimed in claim 5 in which the first MC sends a message via the internet protocol communications system to the second MC for requesting the redirection.
7. The communications protocol as claimed in any one of claims 5 and 6 including the steps of establishing the interconnection as a first virtual message-path (VMP) between the first mobile terminal and the node; and for transferring the interconnection from the first VMP to a second VMP in which the first MC is included in the first VMP and the second MC is included in the second VMP.
8. The protocol as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 7 as dependent from any one of claims 2 to 4 in which the second MC opens the second VMP to the server or to the node’s router or to the further MC.
9. The protocol as claimed in claim 8 including the step of extending the second VMP from the node’s router to the node via that part of the first VMP that extends between the node’s router and the node.
10. The protocol as claimed in claim 8 including the step of extending the second VMP from the further MC to the further mobile terminal via that part of the first VWP that extends between the further MC and the further mobile terminal.
11. The protocol as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 10 in which the second MC instructs the server or the node’s router or the further MC to redirect the interconnection from via the first MC to via the second MC.
12. The communications protocol as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 11 in which redirection of the interconnection takes place in a seamless manner.
13. The communications protocol as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 12 including, during redirection of the interconnection, the steps of the node’s router accepting messages from the second MC in addition to the first MC for forwarding to the node and at the same time forwarding all messages received from the node for forwarding to the first mobile terminal via the second MC.
14. The communications protocol as claimed in any above claim in which the internet session is initiated by the node; and in which communication between the first mobile terminal and the node takes place over a VMP set up by the first mobile terminal.
15. The communications protocol as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13 in which the internet session is initiated by the first mobile terminal;
and in which communication between the first mobile terminal and the node takes place over a VMP set up by the first mobile terminal.
16. A communications protocol for interconnecting a first mobile terminal via the internet protocol communications system with another fixed or mobile terminal, in which the first mobile terminal is treated as a special service.
17. A communications system comprising means for implementing the protocol of any above claim.