Ceramic in replacement components
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorGeoffrey Dearnaley
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for a prosthesis. At least a portion of the prosthesis is made from a ceramic that is treated with ion implantation, which causes a controllable, bilateral compressive stress of the ceramic. A diamond-like-coating (DLC) can be coated on the ceramic and in the same chamber as the ion implantation. After treating by ion implantation and coating with DLC, the ceramic will be strengthened and have a low coefficient of friction and thereby be made much less likely to fracture under load.
Claims37
A method of strengthening a prosthesis, comprising:
- treating at least a ceramic portion of the prosthesis with a first ion beam implantation;
- and
- coating at least the ceramic portion with a diamond-like-coating.
A method of strengthening a prosthesis, comprising:
- treating a ceramic portion of the prosthesis with an ion beam implantation with ions in a vacuum at a dose and energy sufficient to cause the controllable compressive stress and not cause the ceramic to become amorphous.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.