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US 7,550,209 B2Granted
Diffusion-hardened medical implant
AssigneeSmith & Nephew, Inc.
InventorsVivek Pawar, Shilesh C. Jani, Carolyn Weaver
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a new composition and medical implant made therefrom, the composition comprising a thick diffusion hardened zone, and preferably further comprising a ceramic layer. The present invention relates to orthopedic implants comprising the new composition, methods of making the new composition, and methods of making orthopedic implants comprising the new composition.
Claims18
A medical implant comprising:
- a substrate comprising a biocompatible metal or metal alloy;
- a diffusion hardened zone in contact with said substrate, said diffusion hardened zone comprising zirconium or zirconium alloy and a diffusion hardening species, said diffusion hardened zone having a thickness of greater than 5 microns;
- and,
- a substantially defect-free ceramic layer in contact with and overlaying said diffusion hardened zone and comprising a surface of said medical implant, said ceramic layer ranging in thickness from 0.1 to 25 microns;
- and,
- wherein the total thickness of the ceramic layer and the diffusion hardened zone is greater than 5 microns.
3 more elements
A medical implant comprising:
- a substrate comprising a biocompatible metal or metal alloy;
- a diffusion hardened zone in contact with said substrate, said diffusion hardened zone comprising zirconium or zirconium alloy and a diffusion hardening species, said diffusion hardened zone having a thickness of greater than 5 microns;
- and,
- wherein the diffusion hardened zone has a layered structure comprising at least two distinct layers under metallographic analysis, said layered structure characterized by:
- a first layer on a surface of the implant;
- a second layer directly below said first layer, wherein said first layer is predominantly alpha phase zirconium;
- and,
- said layered structure having a concentration of diffusion hardening species which decreases in the direction of the substrate, said decrease of concentration of diffusion hardening species being defined by a function selected from the group consisting of an error function, an exponential function, a near uniform distribution function, and any sequential combination thereof.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.