Orthopaedic implant having an articulating surface with a conforming and translational surface

An orthopaedic implant assembly for use as a shoulder joint, said orthopaedic implant assembly comprising:

• a humeral implant including a head;
• and
• a glenoid implant including a body with an articulating surface for mating with said head;
• wherein one of said articulating surface and said head includes a conforming surface bounded on at least two sides by a translational surface, said conforming surface having a shape which is the same as a mating surface of the other of said articulating surface and said head allowing rotational movement between said glenoid implant and said head, and said translational surface having a shape that is different from the mating surface allowing rolling and translational movement between said glenoid implant and said head, said conforming surface being tangent at a periphery thereof to said translational surface.

A combination shoulder joint comprising a humeral component and a glenoid implant, one of said humeral component or glenoid implant comprising an orthopaedic implant and the other of said humeral component or glenoid implant comprising a complementary implant, said orthopaedic implant including an articulating surface for mating with a surface of the complementary implant, said complementary implant including a mating surface having a first curvature generated by a first spherical radius, and said orthopaedic implant comprising:

• a body defining said articulating surface, said articulating surface including a conforming surface bounded on at least two sides by a translational surface, said conforming surface having a shape having a second curvature which is generated by a second spherical radius which is the same as the first spherical radius of the complementary implant and thereby allows rotational movement between said articulating surface and the surface of the complementary implant, and said translational surface having a non-conforming surface generated by a third radius which is different from said first and second spherical radii and thereby allows rolling and translational movement between said articulating surface and the surface of the complementary implant, said articulating surface having a smooth transition between said conforming surface and said translational surface.

An orthopaedic implant assembly for use as a shoulder joint, said orthopaedic implant assembly comprising:

• a humeral implant including a head;
• and
• a glenoid implant including a body with an articulating surface for mating with said head;
• wherein one of said articulating surface and said head includes a conforming surface having a periphery bounded on at least two sides by a translational surface, said conforming surface having a shape having a first curvature which is generated by a first spherical radius which is substantially the same as a second spherical radius which generates a second curvature of a mating surface of the other of said articulating surface and said head allowing rotational movement between said glenoid implant and said head, and said translational surface having a shape having a third curvature generated by a third spherical radius that is different from the first and second spherical radii, the translational surface allowing rolling and translational movement between said glenoid implant and said head, said conforming surface being tangent at said periphery to said translational surface where said conforming surface is bounded by said translational surface.