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AssigneeBiomet Manufacturing, LLC
InventorsDavid Schroeder, Jordan Freedman, James Gunter, Brian Salyer, H. Hawkins
Estimating the term…
A radiation crosslinked (50 kGy), pressure-treated UHMWPE material has been developed by applying compressive force on a crosslinked polymer in a direction orthogonal to an axial direction. The deformed material is then cooled while held in a deformed state. The resulting material is anisotropic, with enhanced strength oriented along the axial direction. The directionally engineered material is oxidatively stable even after four weeks of accelerated aging in a pressure vessel containing five atmospheres of oxygen (ASTM F2003). Because of its oxidative stability, the deformation processed material is a suitable candidate for air-permeable packaging and gas sterilization, which has thus far been reserved for remelted highly crosslinked UHMWPEs.
A method for treating a polymeric bulk material comprising
A method for treating crosslinked UHMWPE to make material suitable for use in medical implants comprising
A method for preparing a UHMWPE pre-form suitable for use in medical implants comprising
A method of making a bearing component made of UHMWPE, suitable for use in a medical implant, comprising:
A compression deformed crosslinked UHMWPE having a tensile strength at break of more than 50 MPa.
A compression deformed crosslinked UHMWPE, having a free radical concentration of greater than 0.06×1015 spins/g and resistance to oxidative degradation characterized by an oxygen index of less than 0.5 after exposure to 5 atm oxygen at 70° C. for 4 days.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.