Composite bearing inserts for total knee joints
AssigneeExactech, Inc.
InventorsAlbert Burstein, Raymond Cloutier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A composite bearing insert for a total knee joint or a unicondylar knee joint which minimizes or eliminates the production of wear debris resulting from relative motion at the interface between the endoskeleton and a tibial tray of a knee joint prosthesis. The composite bearing insert includes an endoskeleton and a polymer portion which is preferably molded into and locked within the endoskeleton. The endoskeleton is configured to be locked to a tibial component, such as a tibial tray or keel. The modularity of the assembly facilitates the interchangeability of various composite bearing inserts with various tibial components.
Claims19
A composite bearing insert for a knee joint, comprising:
- a femoral component;
- and
- a tibial component operatively associated with said femoral component, said tibial component including a metal tibial element and a composite bearing insert structure attached to the metal tibial element, said composite bearing insert structure including a polymeric bearing component interlocked with a metal endoskeletal component, wherein said endoskeletal component is interlocked with said metal tibial element, and wherein said polymeric bearing component is configured to operatively engage said femoral component.
A method of constructing a composite bearing insert for a knee joint, comprising:
- constructing a metal tibial component;
- constructing a metal endoskeleton component;
- molding a polymeric bearing component to interlock the polymeric bearing component to the metal endoskeleton component to form a composite bearing component;
- and
- interlocking the composite bearing component to said tibial component.
A composite bearing insert for a knee joint, comprising:
- femoral component means for attachment to the femur of a patient;
- and
- tibial component means for attachment to the tibia of a patient, said tibial component means operatively associated with said femoral component means, said tibial component means including metal tibial element means and composite bearing insert structure means attached to the metal tibial element means, said composite bearing insert structure means including polymeric bearing component means interlocked with metal endoskeletal component means, wherein said endoskeletal component means is interlocked with said metal tibial element means, and wherein said polymeric bearing component means is configured to operatively engage said femoral component means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.