Implant device and method for manufacture
a manufacturing method and implant technology, applied in the field of joint implants, can solve the problems of loss of bone stock, increased manufacturing costs, and increased manufacturing costs, and achieve the effects of reducing the risk of fracture, reducing the quality of bone stock, and increasing the cost of joint implants
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- US · United States
- Patent Type
- Applications(United States)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Publication Date
- 2013-09-19
- Estimated Expiration
- Not applicable · inactive patent
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Abstract
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12 / 031,239 filed Feb. 14, 2008, entitled “Method for Implant Manufacture,” which in turn claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to copending U.S. Application No. 60 / 889,859, filed on Feb. 14, 2007, entitled “Implant Device and Method for Manufacture.”
[0002] U.S. application Ser. No. 12 / 031,239 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 681,749 filed Oct. 7, 2003, entitled “Minimally Invasive Joint Implant with 3-Dimensional Geometry Matching the Articular Surfaces”, which in turn claims priority to U.S. Application 60 / 416,601 filed Oct. 7, 2002, entitled “Minimally Invasive Joint Implant With 3-Dimensional Geometry Matching the Articular Surfaces,” and U.S. Application 60 / 467,686 filed May 2, 2003, entitled “Joint Implants”.
[0003] U.S. application Ser. No. 12 / 031,239 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 997,407 filed ...
Examples
Embodiment Construction
[0021]The present invention is directed to methods for making joint implants that leverage additive or subtractive manufacturing methods including laser sintering and electron beam melting, and to non-invasive joint implants which may be advantageously made by the methods described herein. Such implants may feature a surface of the implant that is advantageously a mirror image of the joint surface. In another embodiment, non-invasive joint implants that rest on substantially uncut subchondral bone are described. The invention is now described in further detail, below.
[0022]As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a device” includes a plurality of such devices and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. Similarly, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. Als...