Kyocera Corporation

Yasunori Tamura

Hirokazu Amino

Noriyuki Ishida

Hideaki Okimatsu

Shoichi Hamamoto

Yoichi Nishio

Masaru Ichimiya

A prosthesis for the replacement of hard tissues of human bones and joints, comprising a porous lamination component of metal thin sheets, each having a plurality of through holes and a thickness of 150 .mu.m or less, and being unharmful to the living body, the porous lamination component being formed such that the sheets are laid over one another and are then diffusion-bonded therebetween into one body by heating so that the through holes communicate with one another in the direction of the thickness thereof, and the prosthesis being entirely or partially composed of the porous lamination component. The present invention also relates to a method of making such a prosthesis. The present invention can provide prostheses which are not required to be replaced again, thereby imposing a less burden to patients.

Prosthesis and a method of making the same

Hard tissue prosthesis including porous thin metal sheets

A porous living body repairing member obtained by compression-molding a metal fiber material into a desired shape, sintering the fiber mesh body or thereafter, and imparting a compressive stress of not more than 4.00 to 40.0 MPa to provide a porous living body repairing member having a compressive elasticity of not more than 2000 MPa and a permanent deformation of not more than 1% under a stress below a compressive yield stress. The compressive yield stress becomes approximately equal to the above compressive stress, and almost complete elasticity of a permanent deformation rate of not more than 0.1% is shown with respect to a compressive stress below this compressive yield stress. Accordingly, even when the porous living body repairing member is used at a high compressive load site such as man's lumbar body, permanent deformation hardly occurs. Since the member of this invention has a compressive elasticity of not more than 2000 MPa, when it is transplanted within the living body, its stress to the bone is well transmitted, and it acts advantageously to the bone ingrowth in the pore. At the same time, bone absorption around the repairing member is not developed which may occur by the shielding off of the stress as is seen in a living body repairing member having a high elasticity.

Porous living body repairing member, and a method of imparting

Growing community of inventors

Gamou, Japan

Yasunori Tamura