The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 17, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2000
Harry A. McKellop, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Fu-Wen Shen, Walnut, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method for improving the wear resistance of an implant, made of polyethylene, by crosslinking its bearing surface layer, while leaving its non-bearing interior uncrosslinked. Such crosslinking may be achieved by electron-beam irradiation or by chemical crosslinking of the implant or the polyethylene from which the implant is made. The resulting implant or polyethylene may be further treated to remove the residual free radicals (generated by the electron beam crosslinking process); to remove residual chemicals (generated by the chemical crosslinking process); to remove its most oxidized layer; to stabilize its size and shape; to improve, by remelting, its oxidation resistance; and/or to reshape it into the final implant. Also presented are the resulting implant and polyethylene.