Porous implant structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11529235-B2
Application number	US-202117158397-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2021
Priority date	Aug 19, 2009
Publication date	Dec 20, 2022
Grant date	Dec 20, 2022

Abstract

Porous biocompatible structures suitable for use as medical implants and methods for fabricating such structures are disclosed. The disclosed structures may be fabricated using rapid manufacturing techniques. The disclosed porous structures each have a plurality of struts and nodes where no more than two struts intersect one another to form a node. Further, the nodes can be straight, curved, and can include portions that are curved and/or straight. The struts and nodes can form cells that can be fused or sintered to at least one other cell to form a continuous reticulated structure for improved strength while providing the porosity needed for tissue and cell in-growth.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for fabricating a porous structure, the method comprising:
creating a model of the porous structure, wherein the creating comprises:
(a) selecting a polyhedral shape for one or more cells of the porous structure, the polyhedral shape including a plurality of faces, wherein each face is defined as a polygon;
(b) defining a plurality of struts for a first cell, wherein at least one of the struts is a curved strut defined as an arc of a circle inscribing a corresponding one of the polygons, wherein each strut has a first end, a second end, and a continuous elongated body between the first end and the second end; and
(c) selecting at least one thickness for each of the plurality of struts; and

fabricating the porous structure according to the model by exposing fusible material to an energy source.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the struts is a straight strut extending along an edge of the polyhedral shape.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the struts are curved struts, and wherein two of the at least two curved struts meet at a tangential intersection.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the tangential intersection is defined at an edge of the polyhedral shape.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one thickness is a single thickness for each strut.

Assignees

• Smith & Nephew Inc

Inventors

• Sharp Jeffrey
• Jani Shilesh
• Gilmour Laura
• Landon Ryan

Classifications

• A61F2002/3028

  polyhedral different from parallelepipedal and pyramidal · CPC title

• B33Y70/00

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• A61F2230/0063

  Three-dimensional shapes · CPC title

• A61F2002/30962

  using stereolithography · CPC title

• A61F2002/30593

  hollow · CPC title