Patent ID: 8771354

Claim:
A hard-tissue implant comprising: (a) a bulk implant; (b) a face being an exterior surface of the bulk implant; (c) pillars for implantation into a hard tissue, the pillars being distributed on the face, across an area of at least 80 mm 2 , and extending distally therefrom, and each pillar being integral to the bulk implant, having a distal end, having a transverse area of (200×200) to (10,000×10,000) μm 2 , and having a height of 100 to 10,000 μm; and (d) slots to be occupied by the hard tissue, the slots being defined by the pillars and each slot having a width of 100 to 10,000 μm as measured along the shortest distance between adjacent pillars; wherein: the hard-tissue implant can provide immediate load transfer upon implantation and prevent stress shielding over time, has a Young's modulus of elasticity of at least 10 GPa, has a ratio of (i) the sum of the volumes of the slots to (ii) the sum of the volumes of the pillars and the volumes of the slots of 0.40:1 to 0.90:1, does not comprise any part that is hollow, and does not comprise any non-pillar part extending to or beyond the distal ends of any of the pillars; the bulk implant is non-porous; and the pillars are non-porous.