Implantable articles with as-cast macrotextured surface regions and method of manufacturing same
First Claim
1. An implantable bone prosthesis, prepared by the process of:
- a) depositing a layer of a powder material in a confined region;
b) applying a binder material to the powder material in selected regions of the layer to solidify the powder material in the selected regions;
c) repeating steps (a) and (b) a predetermined number of times to deposit successive layers of powder, with variations in regions to which binder material is applied such that a solidified portion of each layer is bonded to a preceding layer, to form a casting mold that defines a negative of the bone prosthesis, at least a portion of the casting mold having a textured surface including macropores with undercut edge profiles corresponding to the variations of said regions;
d) removing loose powder material from the casting mold;
e) casting a material in contact with the casting mold and hardening the material to form a bone prosthesis; and
f) removing the bone prosthesis from the casting mold, whereby outer surface of the bone prosthesis has cast thereinto a macrotextured surface characterized by macropores with undercut edge profiles on at least a portion thereof.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable article having on at least a portion of its exterior surface an integral, as-cast macrotextured surface with macropores having undercut edge profiles. A complex macrotextured surface is provided by forming a casting mold so that the mold has complementary macrotextured surface features formed by three-dimensional printing techniques, and casting a molten metal within or in contact with the casting mold to form the implantable article. In a hybrid process, one or more printed surface mold plates are attached by hand, or in a wax molding process, to a simpler wax preform, and an investment is made in which the plates are incorporated into the investment mold. A casting is then made, with each preform yielding one cast article, and the incorporated plate forming the desired surface macrotexture on a region of the cast article. Pore size, porosity and pore shape may be varied across the surface, or varied with depth, to independently enhance different mechanical and physiological factors at the bone-prosthesis interface.
114 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An implantable bone prosthesis, prepared by the process of:
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a) depositing a layer of a powder material in a confined region; b) applying a binder material to the powder material in selected regions of the layer to solidify the powder material in the selected regions; c) repeating steps (a) and (b) a predetermined number of times to deposit successive layers of powder, with variations in regions to which binder material is applied such that a solidified portion of each layer is bonded to a preceding layer, to form a casting mold that defines a negative of the bone prosthesis, at least a portion of the casting mold having a textured surface including macropores with undercut edge profiles corresponding to the variations of said regions; d) removing loose powder material from the casting mold; e) casting a material in contact with the casting mold and hardening the material to form a bone prosthesis; and f) removing the bone prosthesis from the casting mold, whereby outer surface of the bone prosthesis has cast thereinto a macrotextured surface characterized by macropores with undercut edge profiles on at least a portion thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A bone prosthesis comprising an implantable article having outer bone engaging surface, at least a portion of which bears an integral as-cast macrotextured surface, the prosthesis prepared by the process of:
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applying a three-dimensional printing process to form a green casting mold by successive applications of a binder material to a ceramic forming powder to bond at least some of the powder together into a solid body forming said green casting mold, at least a portion of the green casting mold having a macroporous textured surface including macropores with undercut edge profiles; removing non-bonded powder material from the green casting mold; firing the green casting mold to yield a ceramic casting mold; casting a molten metal against the ceramic casting mold and allowing the molten metal to harden in contact with the casting mold to form the bone prosthesis, at least a portion of an outer surface of the bone prosthesis thereby having cast thereinto a macrotextured surface including macropores with undercut edge profiles; and separating the bone prosthesis from the casting mold.
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16. An implantable bone prosthesis, prepared by the process of:
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a) depositing a layer of a powder material in a confined region; b) applying a binder material to the powder material in selected regions of the layer to solidify the powder material in the selected regions; c) repeating steps (a) and (b) a predetermined number of times to deposit successive layers of powder, with variations in regions to which binder material is applied such that a solidified portion of each layer is bonded to a preceding layer to form a texture plate having on at least a portion of one surface thereof a textured surface including macropores with undercut edge profiles; d) removing loose powder material from the texture plate; e) affixing the texture plate within a mold-forming assembly; f) forming a casting mold using the mold-forming assembly; g) casting a molten metal against the casting mold and allowing the molten metal to harden in contact with the casting mold to form the bone prosthesis, at least a portion of an outer surface, of the bone prosthesis thereby having cast thereinto a macrotextured surface including macropores with undercut edge profiles; and h) separating the bone prosthesis from the casting mold.
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Specification