Implantation of articulating joint prosthesis

Claim 1

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having an elongate stem into the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a long bone comprising the steps of: forming in said medullary canal a stem socket; sizing the stem socket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined substantially by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the socket thus formed being oversized with respect to the elongated stem; bonding to said elongate stem for its entire length and prior to insertion within the stem socket a resilient, compressible, soft coating of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized with respect to the void space of said socket; and forcibly inserting said oversized coated stem within said socket and compressing the coating generally uniformly along the length of the stem against the bone forming the socket by an amount of at least one percent (1%).

Claim 2

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having an elongate stem into the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a long bone comprising the steps of: forming in said medullary canal a stem socket; sizing the stem socket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined substantially by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the socket thus formed being oversized with respect to the elongated stem; bonding to said elongate stem for its entire length and prior to insertion within the stem socket a resilient, compressible, soft coating of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized with respect to the void space of said socket; and forcibly inserting said oversized coated stem within said socket and compressing the coating generally uniformly along the length of the stem against the bone forming the socket by an amount of at least one percent (1%).

Claim 3

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having an elongate stem into the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a long bone comprising the steps of: forming in said medullary canal a stem socket; sizing the stem stocket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined substantially by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the socket thus formed being oversized with respect to the elongate stem; bonding to said elongate stem a resilient, compressible, soft coating of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized with respect to the void space of said socket, the coated stem having transverse sectional dimensions along substantially its entire length oversized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said stem socket, the transverse sectional dimensions of said coated stem constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety percent (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone; and forcibly inserting said oversized coated stem within said socket and compressing the coating generally uniformly along the length of the stem against the bone forming the socket by an amount of at least one percent (1%).

Claim 4

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having an elongate stem into the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a long bone comprising the steps of: forming in said medullary canal a stem socket; sizing the stem stocket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined substantially by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the socket thus formed being oversized with respect to the elongate stem; bonding to said elongate stem a resilient, compressible, soft coating of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized with respect to the void space of said socket, the coated stem having transverse sectional dimensions along substantially its entire length oversized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said stem socket, the transverse sectional dimensions of said coated stem constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety percent (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone; and forcibly inserting said oversized coated stem within said socket and compressing the coating generally uniformly along the length of the stem against the bone forming the socket by an amount of at least one percent (1%).

Claim 6

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device within an elongated socket defined by cortical bone or dense cancellous bone of a long bone and comprising the steps of: forming a stem socket in said long bone; sizing the stem socket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone; providing a prosthesis device having an elongate stem whose transverse sectional dimensions along substantially its entire length are undersized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said stem socket; bonding a soft, resilient, compressible coating to said stem along substantially its entire length and prior to insertion within the stem socket such that the coated stem is oversized in its transverse sectional dimensions with respect to the adjacent corresponding sectional dimensions of the formed socket by an amount of at least around two-lengths of one percent (0.2%), the transverse sectional dimensions of the coated stem constituted at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone; and forcibly inserting said coated stem into said stem socket and compressing said soft coating against the surrounding bone of said socket generally uniformly along the length of the stem.

Claim 7

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device within an elongated socket defined by cortical bone or dense cancellous bone of a long bone and comprising the steps of: forming a stem socket in said long bone; sizing the stem socket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone; providing a prosthesis device having an elongate stem whose transverse sectional dimensions along substantially its entire length are undersized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said stem socket; bonding a soft, resilient, compressible coating to said stem along substantially its entire length and prior to insertion within the stem socket such that the coated stem is oversized in its transverse sectional dimensions with respect to the adjacent corresponding sectional dimensions of the formed socket by an amount of at least around two-lengths of one percent (0.2%), the transverse sectional dimensions of the coated stem constituted at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone; and forcibly inserting said coated stem into said stem socket and compressing said soft coating against the surrounding bone of said socket generally uniformly along the length of the stem.

Claim 9

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis into the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a femur in a human body, comprising: first forming in said canal a stem socket by developing an entrance cavity along the long axis of said femur thereby to gain access to said medullary canal; placing a suitable tool down the longitudinal axis of said femur following the developed entrance cavity to progressively increase the cross sectional size of the socket until endosteal cortical bone is contacted in the diaphyseal portion of said medullary canal and dense cancellous bone is contacted in the metaphyseal and epiphyseal portions of said medullary canal, whereupon the stem socket is completed; providing a prosthesis device having an elongate stem with distal and proximate ends and transverse sectional dimensions along its length undersized with respect to corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said completed socket; bonding a soft, thin, resilient, compressible coating to said stem along its entire length including its distal and proximate ends, said coating being of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized in its transverse sectional dimensions with respect to the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the formed stem socket by an amount ranging from two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) to seven percent (7%); and forcibly inserting said soft coated stem into said stem socket thereby compressing said coating against the surrounding bone of said socket generally uniformly along the length of the stem, the coated stem having transverse sectional dimensions constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the transverse sectional dimensions of said medullary canal for the metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said femur.

Claim 10

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis into the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a femur in a human body, comprising: first forming in said canal a stem socket by developing an entrance cavity along the long axis of said femur thereby to gain access to said medullary canal; placing a suitable tool down the longitudinal axis of said femur following the developed entrance cavity to progressively increase the cross sectional size of the socket until endosteal cortical bone is contacted in the diaphyseal portion of said medullary canal and dense cancellous bone is contacted in the metaphyseal and epiphyseal portions of said medullary canal, whereupon the stem socket is completed; providing a prosthesis device having an elongate stem with distal and proximate ends and transverse sectional dimensions along its length undersized with respect to corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said completed socket; bonding a soft, thin, resilient, compressible coating to said stem along its entire length including its distal and proximate ends, said coating being of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized in its transverse sectional dimensions with respect to the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the formed stem socket by an amount ranging from two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) to seven percent (7%); and forcibly inserting said soft coated stem into said stem socket thereby compressing said coating against the surrounding bone of said socket generally uniformly along the length of the stem, the coated stem having transverse sectional dimensions constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the transverse sectional dimensions of said medullary canal for the metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said femur.

Claim 13

A method of human implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having a tapered elongate stem with distal and proximate ends into the medullary canal of a long bone defined by the cortex thereof; said method comprising the steps of: providing in said medullary canal a stem socket defined by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the elongate stem of the prosthesis device having transverse sectional dimensions along substantially its entire length which are undersized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said elongate stem socket; bonding to said elongate stem prior to insertion within the socket a deformable material with said deformable material surrounding the stem for its entire length including its distal and proximate ends; and then inserting the elongate stem and deformable material bonded thereto within the stem socket for filling the void area between the precisely formed undersized stem and the compact bone defining the precisely formed socket whereby said deformable material forms a liner around the outer surface of said stem between the elongate stem and the adjacent compact bone, the transverse sectional dimensions of the liner and elongate stem constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety percent (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone.

Claim 14

A method of human implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having a tapered elongate stem with distal and proximate ends into the medullary canal of a long bone defined by the cortex thereof; said method comprising the steps of: providing in said medullary canal a stem socket defined by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the elongate stem of the prosthesis device having transverse sectional dimensions along substantially its entire length which are undersized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said elongate stem socket; bonding to said elongate stem prior to insertion within the socket a deformable material with said deformable material surrounding the stem for its entire length including its distal and proximate ends; and then inserting the elongate stem and deformable material bonded thereto within the stem socket for filling the void area between the precisely formed undersized stem and the compact bone defining the precisely formed socket whereby said deformable material forms a liner around the outer surface of said stem between the elongate stem and the adjacent compact bone, the transverse sectional dimensions of the liner and elongate stem constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety percent (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of the long bone defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone.

Claim 15

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having an elongate stem within the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a long bone in a human body, comprising the steps of: forming in said medullary canal a stem socket; sizing the stem socket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined substantially by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the socket thus formed being oversized with respect to the elongate stem; bonding to said elongate stem a resilient, compressible, soft coating of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized with respect to the void space of said socket; and forcibly inserting said oversized coated stem within said socket formed in the medullary canal and compressing the coating generally uniformly along the length of the stem against the compact bone forming the socket, the combined coating and stem having transverse sectional dimensions along substantially their entire length oversized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said stem socket, the transverse sectional dimensions of said combined coating and stem constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said medullary canal defined by cortical bone of the metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety percent (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said medullary canal defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone.

Claim 16

A method of surgical orthopedic implantation of an intramedullary prosthesis device having an elongate stem within the medullary canal defined by the cortex of a long bone in a human body, comprising the steps of: forming in said medullary canal a stem socket; sizing the stem socket with an appropriately sized tool to form a socket defined substantially by an inner periphery of compact bone formed by cortical or dense cancellous bone, the socket thus formed being oversized with respect to the elongate stem; bonding to said elongate stem a resilient, compressible, soft coating of a thickness such that the coated stem is oversized with respect to the void space of said socket; and forcibly inserting said oversized coated stem within said socket formed in the medullary canal and compressing the coating generally uniformly along the length of the stem against the compact bone forming the socket, the combined coating and stem having transverse sectional dimensions along substantially their entire length oversized with respect to adjacent corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said stem socket, the transverse sectional dimensions of said combined coating and stem constituting at least around seventy percent (70%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said medullary canal defined by cortical bone of the metaphyseal and epiphyseal segments of said long bone, and at least around ninety percent (90%) of the corresponding transverse sectional dimensions of said medullary canal defined by cortical bone of the diaphyseal segment of said long bone.