Joint prosthesis made from a titanium alloy
AssigneeWaldemar Link GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsSevki Baliktay, Arnold Keller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a joint prosthesis having a shaft made from a titanium alloy; according to the invention, it is provided that at least the shaft (10) is investment-cast and has a body-centered cubic crystal structure. A titanium alloy having this crystal structure (known as β-titanium alloy) has an advantageously low modulus of elasticity which is well matched to the physiological demands. Furthermore, implementation as a shaped casting allows a complex shape to be achieved. It is particularly expediently embodied as a femoral prosthesis (1) for an artificial hip joint, which has an elongate shaft (10) with grooves (14) and sawtooth-like projections (15) for bone anchoring.
Claims10
A joint prosthesis having a shaft made from a titanium alloy,
- wherein
- at least the shaft (10, 32, 33) is investment-cast and has a body-centered cubic crystal structure.
The joint prosthesis as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
- wherein
- the titanium alloy is a titanium-molybdenum alloy.
The joint prosthesis as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
- wherein
- the mean grain size of the crystal structure is at least 0.3 mm, preferably 0.5 mm.
The joint prosthesis as claimed in, one of the preceding claims,
- wherein
- at least the shaft (10, 32, 33) is hot isostatically pressed and solution annealed.
The joint prosthesis as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
- wherein
- the titanium alloy is free of vanadium and aluminum.
The joint prosthesis as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
- wherein
- the titanium alloy is free of bismuth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.