Mechanical assembly including exterior surface preparation
OwnerKambiz Behzadiinventor
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Abstract
A system and method for improving mechanical assemblies, such as prosthetic implants, intended to be installed in living tissue such as bone. Force-imparting devices are adapted and may include angularity, which may be introduced with specialized additive manufacturing, which may impart congruent cross-sections while providing variable stiffness. In some cases, the variable stiffness may be “stretchy” in a longitudinal direction and “rigid” in a radial directional which may provide an assembly bias. Additive manufacturing may allow the material of a prosthesis to be varied (e.g., density/porosity) to create variable stiffness over a length.
Claims12
An implant manufacturing process for producing an implant including an insertion portion configured for insertion into a prepared cavity of a live bone, the live bone at the cavity having a bone variable material properties profile, the method comprising:
- a) manufacturing additively at least an insertion portion of the implant, said insertion portion including a first set of structural regions and a second set of structural regions, each set of structural regions including a material properties profile;
- and
- b) altering, during said manufacturing step a), said material properties profile of each said structural regions wherein said material properties profile of said first set of structural regions is different from said material properties profile of said second set of structural regions, wherein said material properties profiles of said sets of structural regions collectively define an implant material properties profile, and wherein said implant material properties profile is configured to produce one or both of a propensity for insertion and a propensity for a resistance to a fracture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.