1. An implantable articulating bone prosthesis, comprising:
first and second articulation components adapted for affixation respectively to an adjacent pair of patient bone structures, said first and second articulation components respectively defining first and second articulation surfaces movably engageable with each other;
said first articulation surface having a generally concave shape and being formed from a biocompatible doped silicon nitride ceramic having a flexural strength greater than about 700 Mega-Pascal (MPa) and a toughness greater than about 7 Mega-Pascal root meter (MPam 0.5);
said second articulation surface having a generally convex shape and being formed from a biocompatible metal.
2. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises a cobalt chromium alloy.
3. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said doped silicon nitride further includes dopants selected from the group consisting of yttrium oxide, magnesium oxide, strontium oxide, alumina, and combinations thereof.
4. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said biocompatible doped silicon nitride ceramic comprises Si3N4 doped with 6 weight % Y2O3+4 weight % Al2O3.
5. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said first component is shaped as a hip joint acetabular cup prosthesis and said second component is shaped as a hip joint femoral head prosthesis.
6. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein the articulation surface of said biocompatible silicon nitride ceramic has a surface roughness of less than about 0.05 \u03bcm.
7. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein the diametral clearance between said first and second articulation surfaces of said first and second components is between about 75 and about 250 \u03bcm.
8. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 7 wherein said clearance is between about 100 and about 200 \u03bcm.
9. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises a cobalt chromium alloy having from about 0.06 to about 0.35% carbon by weight.
10. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises an alloy having from about 58 to about 69 weight % cobalt, from about 26 to about 30 weight % chromium, from about 5 to about 7 weight % molybdenum and less than about 5 total weight % of other elements.
11. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 10 wherein said alloy further comprises up to about 1 weight % nickel, up to about 0.75 weight % iron, up to about 1 weight % silicon, up to about 1 weight % manganese and up to about 0.25 weight % nitrogen.
12. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 1 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises a wrought alloy.
13. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 12 wherein said wrought alloy conforms to ASTM specification Fl 537.
14. An implantable articulating bone prosthesis, comprising:
first and second articulation components adapted for affixation respectively to an adjacent pair of patient bone structures, said first and second articulation components respectively defining first and second articulation surfaces movably engageable with each other;
said first articulation surface having a generally concave shape and being formed from a biocompatible ceramic having a flexural strength greater than about 700 Mega-Pascal (MPa) and a toughness greater than about 7 Mega-Pascal root meter (MPam0.5);
said second articulation surface having a generally convex shape and being formed from a biocompatible cobalt chromium metal alloy.
15. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein said biocompatible ceramic comprises doped silicon nitride.
16. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 15 wherein said doped silicon nitride further includes dopants selected from the group consisting of yttrium oxide, magnesium oxide, strontium oxide, alumina, and combinations thereof.
17. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 15 wherein said biocompatible doped silicon nitride ceramic comprises Si3N4 doped with 6 weight % Y2O3+4 weight % Al2O3.
18. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein said first component is shaped as a hip joint acetabular cup prosthesis and said second component is shaped as a hip joint femoral head prosthesis.
19. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein the articulation surface of said biocompatible ceramic has a surface roughness of less than about 0.05 \u03bcm.
20. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein the diametral clearance between said first and second articulation surfaces of said first and second components is between about 75 and about 250 \u03bcm.
21. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 18 wherein said clearance is between about 100 and about 200 \u03bcm.
22. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein said biocompatible cobalt chromium metal alloy has from about 0.06 to about 0.35% carbon by weight.
23. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein said biocompatible cobalt chromium metal alloy has from about 58 to about 69 weight % cobalt, from about 26 to about 30 weight % chromium, from about 5 to about 7 weight % molybdenum and less than about 5 total weight % of other elements.
24. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 23 wherein said alloy further comprises up to about 1 weight % nickel, up to about 0.75 weight % iron, up to about 1 weight % silicon, up to about 1 weight % manganese and up to about 0.25 weight % nitrogen.
25. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 14 wherein said biocompatible cobalt chromium metal alloy comprises a wrought alloy.
26. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 25 wherein said wrought alloy conforms to ASTM specification F1537.
27. An implantable articulating bone prosthesis, comprising:
first and second articulation components adapted for affixation respectively to an adjacent pair of patient bone structures, said first and second articulation components respectively defining first and second articulation surfaces movably engageable with each other;
said first articulation surface having a generally concave shape and being formed from a biocompatible ceramic having a flexural strength greater than about 700 Mega-Pascal (MPa) and a toughness greater than about 7 Mega-Pascal root meter (MPam0.5); and
said second articulation surface having a generally convex shape and being formed from a biocompatible metal.
28. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein said biocompatible ceramic comprises doped silicon nitride.
29. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises a cobalt chromium alloy.
30. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 28 wherein said doped silicon nitride further includes dopants selected from the group consisting of yttrium oxide, magnesium oxide, strontium oxide, alumina, and combinations thereof.
31. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 28 wherein said biocompatible doped silicon nitride ceramic comprises Si3N4 doped with 6 weight % Y2O3+4 weight % Al2O3.
32. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein said first component is shaped as a hip joint acetabular cup prosthesis and said second component is shaped as a hip joint femoral head prosthesis.
33. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein the articulation surface of said biocompatible ceramic has a surface roughness of less than about 0.05 \u03bcm.
34. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein the diametral clearance between said first and second articulation surfaces of said first and second components is between about 75 and about 250 \u03bcm.
35. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 34 wherein said clearance is between about 100 and about 200 \u03bcm.
36. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 52 wherein said biocompatible cobalt chromium alloy has from about 0.06 to about 0.35% carbon by weight.
37. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises an alloy having from about 58 to about 69 weight % cobalt, from about 26 to about 30 weight % chromium, from about 5 to about 7 weight % molybdenum and less than about 5 total weight % of other elements.
38. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 37 wherein said alloy further comprises up to about 1 weight % nickel, up to about 0.75 weight % iron, up to about 1 weight % silicon, up to about 1 weight % manganese and up to about 0.25 weight % nitrogen.
39. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 27 wherein said biocompatible metal comprises a wrought alloy.
40. The implantable articulating bone prosthesis of claim 39 wherein said wrought alloy conforms to ASTM specification F1537.
41. A joint prosthesis for articulation, comprising:
a first component having an articulation surface formed from a biocompatible ceramic having a flexural strength greater than about 700 Mega-Pascal (MPa) and a toughness greater than about 7 Mega-Pascal root meter (MPam 0.5); and
a second component having an articulation surface formed form a biocompatible polymer.
42. The joint prosthesis of claim 41 wherein said articulation surface of said second component includes one or more fiber reinforced or non-fiber reinforced biocompatible materials selected from the group consisting of thermoset polymers and thermoplastic polymers.
43. A joint prosthesis for articulation, comprising:
a first component having an articulation surface formed from a biocompatible ceramic having a flexural strength greater than about 700 Mega-Pascal (MPa) and a toughness greater than about 7 Mega-Pascal root meter (MPam0.5); and
said articulation surface of said first component being adapted for articulation against an articulation surface of a naturally occurring structure.
44. The joint prosthesis of claim 43 wherein said naturally occurring structure comprises patient bone.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A multilayer body having a transparent first layer in which a multiplicity of microlenses is shaped, and a second layer which is arranged beneath the first layer in a fixed position relative to the first layer and which has a multiplicity of microscopic structures, wherein
the microlenses are cylindrical lenses of a length of more than 2 mm and a width of less than 400 \u03bcm which are arranged in accordance with a microlens grid spanning a first co-ordinate system having a coordinate axis X1 which is determined by the focal point lines of the cylindrical lenses and a co-ordinate axis Y1 which is different in relation thereto, the microscopic structures are in the form of microimages distorted along a transverse axis with respect to a longitudinal axis in accordance with a transformation function and the microscopic structures are arranged in accordance with a microimage grid spanning a second co-ordinate system having a co-ordinate axis X2 and a co-ordinate axis Y2 which is different in relation thereto, and in a region of the multilayer body in which the microlenses of the microlens grid and the microscopic structures of the microimage grid are in superposed relationship the line spacing determined by the spacing of the focal point lines of the cylindrical lenses and the microimage spacing, which is determined by the spacing of the centroids of the microimages, of adjacent microlenses and microscopic structures from each other differ by not more than 10%.
2. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the co-ordinate axis Y1 and the co-ordinate axis Y2 as well as the co-ordinate axis X1 and the co-ordinate axis X2 are respectively oriented in mutually parallel relationship in the region and the line spacing and the microimage spacing of adjacent microlenses and microscopic structures differs from each other in the region.
3. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the co-ordinate axis Y1 and the co-ordinate axis Y2 as well as the co-ordinate axis X1 and the co-ordinate axis X2 respectively include in the region an angle of between \u22125\xb0 and +5\xb0.
4. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical lenses are of a width of less than 400 \u03bcm.
5. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical lenses are of a length of between 2 mm and 100 mm.
6. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical lenses (22) have a structure depth of 2 \u03bcm to 100 \u03bcm.
7. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the microlens grid is a one-dimensional grid.
8. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the grid spacing of the microlens grid is constant in the region.
9. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the grid spacing of the microlens grid steadily changes in the region.
10. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the grid spacing of the microlens grid is periodically varied in the region.
11. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the grid spacing of the microlens grid corresponds to the sum of the width of one of the microlenses and an additional spacing between 0 \u03bcm and 20% of the structure depth of the microlenses.
12. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the microimages are of a width of less than 400 \u03bcm and a length of more than 2 \u03bcm, said length being determined in its orientation by the longitudinal axis.
13. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal axis of the distortion is oriented parallel to the co-ordinate axis X1.
14. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the co-ordinate axis X2 is determined by the longitudinal axis of the distortion.
15. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the transverse axis of the microimages with respect to the longitudinal axis of the microimages is upset by the transformation function by more than 5 times.
16. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the microimage grid is a two-dimensional microimage grid with two or more microscopic structures arranged in succession in the direction of the co-ordinate axis X2.
17. A multilayer body according to claim 16, wherein the grid spacings of the microimages in the region are constant in the direction of the co-ordinate axis Y2 and the grid spacings of the microimages vary in the direction of the co-ordinate axis X2 in dependence on the co-ordinate y determined by the co-ordinate axis Y2 andor the co-ordinate x determined by the co-ordinate axis X2, in accordance with a function F (x, y).
18. A multilayer body according to claim 16, wherein the grid spacings of the microimages in the region are respectively constant in the direction of the co-ordinate axis Y2 and the co-ordinate axis X2, but the centroids of the microimages disposed in mutually juxtaposed relationship in the direction of the co-ordinate axis X2 have a displacement relative to each other.
19. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein in a first subregion of the region and in a second subregion of the region, that is arranged beside the first subregion, the line spacing determined by the focal point lines of the cylindrical lenses andor the microimage spacing determined by the spacing of the centroids of the microimages, differ from each other.
20. A multilayer body according to claim 19 wherein in the first subregion, the difference of the microimage spacing and the microlens spacing is positive and in the second subregion it is negative.
21. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein in a first subregion of the region and in a second subregion of the region, that is arranged beside the first subregion, the respective microimage grid andor the microlens grid have a phase displacement relative to each other in relation to the co-ordinate axis Y1 and Y2 respectively.
22. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein in a first subregion of the region and in a second subregion of the region, that is arranged beside the first subregion, the co-ordinate axes Y1 and Y2 andor X1 and X2 respectively include a different angle.
23. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein in a first subregion of the region and in a second subregion of the region, that is arranged beside the first subregion, the cylindrical lens have a different focal length.
24. A multilayer body according to claim 19 wherein two or more first and second subregions are arranged in alternately mutually juxtaposed relationship.
25. A multilayer body according to claim 19, wherein the microimages of the microimage grid in the first subregion andor in the second subregion are respectively identical microimages.
26. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the microimages of the microimage grid in the region differ from each other.
27. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the microimages of the microimage grid in the region are formed by microimages formed by a geometrical transformation of a basic image including rotation andor increase or reduction in size of the basic image and subsequent distortion in accordance with the transformation function.
28. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the first andor second co-ordinate system is formed by a co-ordinate system having circular or looped line-shaped co-ordinate axes.
29. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the second layer has a partial metal layer and the microscopic structures are formed by the regions of the second layer in which the metal layer is provided or by the regions of the second layer in which the metal layer is not provided.
30. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the second layer has a partial HRI layer and the microscopic structures are formed by the regions of the second layer in which the HRI layer is provided or by the regions of the second layer in which the HRI layer is not provided.
31. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein the second layer has a replication lacquer layer with diffractive structures shaped thereinto.
32. A multilayer body according to claim 31, wherein two or more different diffractive structures are shaped in the replication lacquer layer.
33. A multilayer body according to claim 29, wherein in the regions of the second layer that are provided with the metallic layer and in the regions of the second layer that are not provided with the metal layer different diffractive structures are shaped in the second layer.
34. A multilayer body according to claim 1, wherein in the region of the microscopic structures, a first surface relief associated with the microscopic structures is shaped into the second layer, which surface relief differs from the surrounding surface relief of the second layer.
35. A multilayer body according to claim 34, wherein the first surface relief andor the second surface relief is selected from the group of a diffractive structure, a matt structure and a macrostructure, the first surface relief andor the second surface relief including linear grating structures, cross grating structures, lens-like structures, asymmetric grating structures, zero-order grating structures or combinations of said structures.
36. A multilayer body according to claim 34, wherein the second layer has coloured and transparent regions or differently coloured and transparent regions and the microscopic structures are formed by the coloured regions or are formed by the transparent regions.
37. A process for producing a multilayer body wherein
a second layer having a multiplicity of microscopic structures is applied to a third layer, a transparent first layer is arranged above the third layer so that the second layer is arranged between the first and the third layers and the first and the third layers respectively project beyond the second layer on all sides, and the first, second and third layers for forming the multilayer body are laminated together by means of a tool engaging on the top side of the first layer and the underside of the third layer, using heat and pressure, wherein in the top side of the first layer a lens grid is shaped into the surface of the first layer by means of a pressing plate in which a negative form of a lens grid is shaped and which is part of the tool.
38. A process according to claim 37, wherein the first layer and the third layer are formed from a plastic film of a thickness of 50 to 500 \u03bcm, which comprises polycarbonate.