Rapid, customized bone prosthesis

• US 5,370,692 A
• Filed: 08/14/1992
• Issued: 12/06/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bioz LLC
• Original Assignee: Guild Associates Incorporated
• Inventors: Fink, David J., DiNovo, Salvatore T., Ward, Thomas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAY, RANDY CITRIN
• Application Number:
  US07/929,449
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 623/16, 623/18, 623/66
• US Class Current: 128/898
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0019 using three dimensional printing
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/30942 for designing or making customized prostheses, e.g. using templates, CT or NMR scans, finite-element analysis or CAD-CAM techniques
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30011 differing in porosity
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30948 using computerized tomography, i.e. CT scans
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30952 using CAD-CAM techniques or NC-techniques
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30957 using a positive or a negative model, e.g. moulds
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30968 Sintering
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/3097 using laser
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2250/0023 differing in porosity
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 41/36 Feeding the material on to the mould, core or other substrate
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/165 using a combination of solid and fluid materials, e.g. a powder selectively bound by a liquid binder, catalyst, inhibitor or energy absorber
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/0002 monomers or prepolymers
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/0073 Solution
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4099 Surface or curve machining, making 3D objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45168 Bone prosthesis
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49017 DTM desktop manufacturing, prototyping
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49018 Laser sintering of powder in layers, selective laser sintering SLS
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/901 Method of manufacturing prosthetic device
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/914 Bone

Abstract

Prosthetic bone implants are fabricated to approximately replicate a patient'"'"'s original bone. Medical computer aided imaging techniques are applied to generate a data base representing the size and shape of the original bone in a three dimensional coordinate system. The implantable replica is fabricated using the data base and free form manufacturing to sequentially solidify adjoining, cross-sectional intervals of a fluid material. Appropriate fluid materials include ceramic particles which may be selectively bonded by sintering or bonding with a polymer, and a monomer which is polymerized at selected regions by an incident laser beam.

Claims

1. A method for fabricating an implantable device, the method comprising:

fabricating an approximate replica of bone by sequentially solidifying adjoining, cross-sectional intervals of a fluid material along an axis.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein a design data base is first generated by scanning at least a portion of an animal'"'"'s body using imaging techniques to generate a design data base of measurement data representing size and shape of the bone in a three dimensional coordinate system and then fabricating said replica in correspondence with the data in said design data base.

3. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein the step of solidifying a fluid material comprises bonding ceramic particles.

4. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein the scanning step comprises generating the data base by scanning a body part of a healthy individual animal and archiving the data base for subsequent use.

5. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein the method further comprises modifying the data base to make selected changes in the size and shape of the bone represented by the data base.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of solidifying a fluid material comprises bonding a photo-active polymeric material.

7. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of solidifying a fluid material comprises sintering ceramic particles.

8. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of solidifying a fluid material comprises bonding particles a first ceramic material together with particles of a second ceramic material.

9. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of solidifying fluid material comprises cementing particles together with a polymer.

10. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the fluid material comprises ceramic particles suspended in a liquid monomer and wherein the monomer is polymerized to form a solid polymer network and wherein at least a part of the polymer is then removed.

11. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the fluid material comprises ceramic particles and wherein the solidified replica is then reacted with an agent to change its composition.

12. A customized implantable device prepared by the method of claim 1.

13. A customized implantable device prepared by the method of claim 2.