| 摘要 |
PROSTHETIC IMPLANT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME This invention provides for a prosthetic implant having a porous surface layer connected to the implant body by the use of a thin layer of a thermoplastic polymer with a melting point substantially lower than the metal components and which exhibits good adhesive bonding characteristics. In the preferred embodiment the thermoplastic polymer of choice is from the polyaryletherketone family (PAEK). Specifically, a PAEK sold by BASF under the trade name Ultrapek? A3000. The PAEK polymers have been shown through experimentation to exhibit strong adhesive bonds with molybdenum alloy (Co-Cr-Mo) and titanium-vanadium-aluminum alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) commonly used for implant materials. The use of the thin film polymer bonding eliminates the undesirable effects incurred during the sintering process in two ways. First, since the thin film polymer melts at a substantially lower temperature than required during a sintering process, the implant body is not subjected to high temperature. Second, the porous coating and the implant are secured together without sintering; therefore, notches are not formed at the point of contact between the porous surface and the implant. The resultant implant with a porous layer attached therefore retains substantially if not all the original strength characteristics of the implant body. Therefore, designers of prosthetic implants are not limited in the amount or location of the porous surface layer on the implant. Further, eliminating the sintering or diffusion bonding process reduces the cost incurred by the manufacturer in the form of time and capital expenditures required to sustain the high temperature furnaces.
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