|Publication number||US5755810 A|
|Application number||US 08/748,601|
|Publication date||26 May 1998|
|Filing date||13 Nov 1996|
|Priority date||13 Nov 1996|
|Publication number||08748601, 748601, US 5755810 A, US 5755810A, US-A-5755810, US5755810 A, US5755810A|
|Inventors||Robert A. Cunningham|
|Original Assignee||Cunningham; Robert A.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (34), Referenced by (18), Classifications (36), Legal Events (5)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This invention relates in general to a bone prosthesis and in particular to a femur prosthesis for a hip implant.
Hip replacements are very common. In a hip replacement a surgeon will install a prosthesis within the femur. The prosthesis has a stem that inserts into the central cavity of the femur. The stem has a neck that extends obliquely outward. A ball attaches to the neck for location in the acetabulum of the patient. The prosthesis thus replaces the acetabulum joint which deteriorates due to arthritis or other damage.
While hip implants of this nature are successful, often they have to be removed and replaced every few years. One reason is due to stress shielding. Stress shielding occurs as a result of the surface of the stem of the prosthesis being firmly fixed to the inner wall of the femur cavity by gluing, press fitting, bone growth or other means. Under these conditions, when the prosthesis is loaded by the upper body of the user, most of the load is transferred down through the prosthesis to the femur below the prosthesis, and only a small portion is carried through the bone surrounding the prosthesis.
Normally the prosthesis is metal and much more rigid than the bone, as much as 10 to 20 times as stiff. As a result, 80 to 95 percent of the load on the ball is carried by the prosthesis. Only the remaining 5 to 20 percent transfers to the bone surrounding the stem. The portion of the bone that carries only a small portion of the load, which is the portion around the stem in general, partially dissolves over time. This causes a weakened femur and pain to the patient. Remedial work requires additional surgery, expense and inconvenience to the patient.
Various proposals have been made in the past for avoiding stress shielding. These proposals generally involve some means to assure that the bone does not attach to the stem in an intermediate section between distal and proximal ends of the stem. While these work to some extent, improvements are desired.
The prosthesis of this invention has a stem with a proximal section for insertion in the proximal region of the cavity. The proximal region of the cavity is resected so as to provide an upward facing proximal shoulder. The stem has a downward facing shoulder located on its proximal section that mates with the femur shoulder. These shoulders are located generally perpendicular to the axis of the stem, which is substantially congruent with the axis of the femur.
The stem has an intermediate section that extends downward from the proximal section and is sized to provide a significant annular clearance around it within the femur. The lower end or distal section of the stem is sized for a snug fit within the femur cavity. The stem has an obliquely extending neck and a spherical head secured to the upper end of the neck.
In use, a major portion of the load due to the weight of the patient's upper body will pass down from the ball, through the neck and the prosthesis shoulder into the femur shoulder. This transfers a great deal of the load directly to the bone. This transfer, coupled with the lack of any bonding with the bone throughout the length of the intermediate section, avoids stress shielding to a large extent.
The dimensions of the intermediate section are selected so that it will remain approximately congruent with the femur axis even under normal bending. The cross sectional dimension of the intermediate section is made sufficiently small so that the bone and intermediate section will flex approximately equally. The length of the intermediate section must be fairly long to allow flexing to match natural bending of the bone. Preferably this length is approximately two-thirds or more of the total length of the stem from the lower end of the distal section to the shoulder. Because no downward force is transmitted through the intermediate section, the total downward load of the upper body is carried by the bone. In addition, the added flexibility of the bone reduces the lateral force applied by the distal end of the stem to the bone and increases bending stresses to the bone in the area surrounding the stem.
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a prosthesis constructed in accordance with this invention installed in a femur.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the prosthesis and femur of FIG. 1, taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a side view of an upper portion of the prosthesis of FIG. 1, shown removed from the femur.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the prosthesis of FIG. 1, taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the prosthesis of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, femur 11 has a generally cylindrical exterior which is enlarged on its proximal end 13. For purpose of reference, assuming a patient is facing out of the drawing, femur 11 would be part of the patient's right leg. The exterior of femur can be considered to have a laterally outward facing side 11a, a laterally inward or medial facing side 11b which would face the patient's other femur, a forward or anterior side 11c (FIG. 2) facing out of the drawing, and a rearward or posterior side 11d, shown also in FIG. 2 and facing into the drawing. Proximal end 13 has been resected or cut by bone cutting tools into the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The resection results in a femur shoulder 15 that is spaced below the upper end of femur 11. Femur shoulder 15 faces upward and has a forward side portion 15a, a rearward side portion 15b, and an inward side portion 15c. Shoulder 15 has no outward side portion, as the outward portion of proximal end 13 will retain its full length. Shoulder 15 is generally flat and approximately perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of femur 11.
Femur shoulder 15 partially surrounds a proximal region 17a of a cavity. The cavity has an intermediate region 17b which extends downward from proximal region 17a and has generally cylindrical cavity walls 19. Walls 19 are slightly tapered, resulting in a reduction in inner diameter along the length of femur 11.
A prosthesis 21 is shown installed in femur 11. Prosthesis 21 is a metal member having a stem 23. Stem 23 has a proximal section 25 that locates within cavity proximal region 17a. A downward facing stem shoulder 26 is formed on proximal section 25. As shown also in FIGS. 2 and 3, stem shoulder 26 is the lower surface of a flange 28 that protrudes laterally from proximal section 25. Stem shoulder 26 is flat and oriented for flush engagement with femur shoulder 15. As shown particularly in FIG. 4, stem shoulder 26 is generally formed in a "U" shape, having forward and rearward portions that mate with forward and rearward portions 15a, 15b of the femur shoulder, and an inward side portion that mates with shoulder inward side portion 15c. Also, preferably stem shoulder 26 is roughened to enhance bone growth from femur shoulder 15.
Stem 23 has an intermediate section 27 that extends downward from proximal section 25. Intermediate section 27 has a reduced size diameter substantially smaller than the inner diameter of cavity walls 19. Intermediate section 27 also has a slight generally conical taper so as to substantially match the conical taper of cavity walls 19. This results in an annular clearance between intermediate section 27 and cavity walls 19 that is substantially uniform throughout the length of intermediate section 27.
A distal section 29 is formed on the lower end of intermediate section 27. Distal section 29 has curved generally spherical sidewalls which are formed at a fairly large radius R, as shown in FIG. 1. The radius R is preferably in the range from about six to 10 times the inner diameter of cavity walls 19. The maximum diameter of distal section 29 is substantially the same as the inner diameter of cavity walls 19. The curved exterior sidewalls of distal section 29 engage the generally cylindrical cavity walls 19 in a snug fit. The maximum diameter of distal section 29 is thus substantially larger than the outer diameter of intermediate section 27. A large radius 33 joins intermediate section 27 to distal section 29. Intermediate section 27 and distal section 29 are coaxial along a longitudinal stem axis 31. Shoulder 26 is substantially perpendicular to stem axis 31.
The length and diameter of intermediate section 27 are selected to substantially approximate the flexibility of femur 11. The length of intermediate section 27 is preferably at least two-thirds the length of stem 23 measured along stem axis 31 from the lower end of distal section 29 to shoulder 26. Stem axis 31 is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of femur 11 and remains substantially congruent with the femur axis under bending loads. The annular clearance surrounding intermediate section 27 remains substantially constant under normal bending loads.
Prosthesis 21 has a conventional neck 35 which extends upward and inwardly at an oblique angle relative to stem axis 31. A ball or head 43 secures to the upper end of neck 35 in a locking taper fit in a conventional manner. Referring to FIG. 5, one means for securing prosthesis 21 to femur 11 is shown. This includes an access passage 41 which extends through neck 35, generally parallel with neck 35, and terminates on the outward side of stem proximal section 25. After stem 23 has been inserted into cavity 17, and prior to installing ball 43, the surgeon will insert a long drill through access passage 41 to drill a pilot hole 44 in femur 11. The operator then can insert a fastener 45 through pilot hole 44 and into access passage 41 to secure prosthesis 21 to femur 11. Also, preferably adhesive 47 is employed in cavity proximal region 17a to bond prosthesis proximal section 25 to femur 11. No adhesive should be used at any point below stem proximal section 25, however, as it is important to avoid bonding of intermediate section 27 to femur cavity walls 19.
To install prosthesis 21, the surgeon will first resect an upper portion of cavity proximal region 17a to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In doing so, he will form a substantially flat, generally U-shaped shoulder 15 with the shoulder being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of stem 11. The surgeon will clean out cavity 19.
The surgeon then applies adhesive 47 to proximal section 25 and inserts prosthesis 21 to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. Shoulder 26 will land on femur shoulder 15. The surgeon inserts a drill through access passage 41 (FIG. 5), and forms pilot hole 44. The surgeon then mechanically fastens the prosthesis 21 to the bone by inserting a screw or a fastener 45 through pilot hole into threads formed in access passage 41. The surgeon then installs ball 43 and inserts ball 43 into the patient's acetabulum (not shown).
When the person walks, a load will be applied, normally as indicated by the numeral 49 in FIG. 5. Because of the shoulders 15 and 26, most of the load will be transmitted through shoulder 26 and into femur shoulder 15. This load transmits along the length of femur 11. The orientation of shoulders 15, 26, being substantially perpendicular to axis 31, reduces the tendency of slippage between the two shoulders 15, 26. A load in directions other than as indicated by force 49 may occur as a result of climbing, sitting down and other movements. This will result in stresses that will tend to cause shoulders 15, 26 to slip with respect to each other. The firm attachment by fastener 45 and adhesive 47 reduces this possibility.
A lateral reaction force will occur at the contact point between distal section 29 and cavity walls 19. However, as all of the vertical load is transferred through the bone from shoulders 26, 15, rather than through intermediate section 27, the reaction force will be smaller than in the prior art. The flexibility of intermediate section 27 reduces greatly any stress concentration that would otherwise exist at distal section 29. Further, by having a large contact radius R, surface stresses between the prosthesis and bone can be greatly reduced.
The invention has significant advantages. The prosthesis transfers substantially all of the vertical load to the femur in the proximal section. This results in the femur carrying a normal vertical load, not the intermediate section of the stem located between the distal end and proximal section. In addition, bending stresses in the bone are reduced in the same proportion as the vertical load stresses, approximately 80 to 95% throughout the length of the prosthesis stem. The invention provides a maximum reduction of bending stresses on the bone of approximately 50% at the proximal end of intermediate section 27 and gradually restores them to as much as 98% near distal end 29.
By restoring the stresses to the bone as nearly like the original stresses that existed prior to installation of the prosthesis, bone dissolution will be greatly reduced or eliminated altogether. This should allow prosthesis to serve a patient for many years more than the prior art.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US3605123 *||29 Apr 1969||20 Sep 1971||Melpar Inc||Bone implant|
|US3848272 *||13 Jan 1972||19 Nov 1974||United States Surgical Corp||Artificial hip joint|
|US3939498 *||28 May 1975||24 Feb 1976||National Research Development Corporation||Endoprosthetic femoral head|
|US4031571 *||24 Dec 1975||28 Jun 1977||Friedrichsfeld Gmbh Steinzeug-Und Kunststoffwerke||Hip endoprosthesis with stepped load-transferring surfaces|
|US4281420 *||5 Jun 1979||4 Aug 1981||Raab S||Bone connective prostheses adapted to maximize strength and durability of prostheses-bone cement interface; and methods of forming same|
|US4491987 *||24 Sep 1979||8 Jan 1985||Clemson University||Method of orthopedic implantation and implant product|
|US4546501 *||28 Sep 1982||15 Oct 1985||Gustilo Ramon B||Hip prosthesis|
|US4645506 *||22 Jun 1984||24 Feb 1987||Waldemar Link Gmbh & Co.||Hip joint endoprosthesis with a stem to be anchored in the femur|
|US4657551 *||23 May 1983||14 Apr 1987||Mecron Medizinische Produkte Gmbh||Shaft for collarless hip joint prosthesis|
|US4659067 *||10 Sep 1985||21 Apr 1987||Fournier Jacques A||Implant for coxofemoral prosthesis|
|US4714470 *||19 Feb 1986||22 Dec 1987||Zimmer, Inc.||Grooved prosthetic implant|
|US4718912 *||12 Nov 1985||12 Jan 1988||Zimmer Inc.||Femoral component and the method of constructing the same|
|US4770660 *||20 Jan 1987||13 Sep 1988||Osteonics Corp.||Femoral prosthesis with selectively removable collar|
|US4783192 *||13 Aug 1986||8 Nov 1988||Wroblewski Boguslaw M||Joint prosthesis|
|US4813963 *||24 Aug 1987||21 Mar 1989||Zimmer, Inc.||Femoral component for a hip prosthesis|
|US4888023 *||19 Jan 1988||19 Dec 1989||Osteonics Corp.||Femoral prosthesis with uncoupled distal tip|
|US4892550 *||30 Dec 1985||9 Jan 1990||Huebsch Donald L||Endoprosthesis device and method|
|US4983183 *||21 Sep 1989||8 Jan 1991||Horowitz Stephen M||Hip prosthesis and method for implanting the same|
|US4986834 *||30 Mar 1990||22 Jan 1991||Boehringer Mannheim Corporation||Load sharing femoral hip implant|
|US5004475 *||15 Mar 1989||2 Apr 1991||Vermeire Dirk V||Hip prosthesis|
|US5013324 *||28 Nov 1988||7 May 1991||Zimmer, Inc.||Prosthetic implant with wrapped porous surface|
|US5018285 *||16 Jan 1990||28 May 1991||Zimmer, Inc.||Method of constructing prosthetic implant with wrapped porous surface|
|US5061287 *||2 Jan 1991||29 Oct 1991||Feiler Frederic C||Proximal cement sealing plug for hip prosthesis|
|US5080679 *||29 Jan 1990||14 Jan 1992||Techmedica, Inc.||Orthopedic junction for dissimilar materials|
|US5133772 *||17 Jan 1990||28 Jul 1992||Osteonics Corporation||Femoral implant for hip arthroplasty|
|US5163961 *||17 Apr 1991||17 Nov 1992||Harwin Steven F||Compression-fit hip prosthesis and procedures for implantation thereof|
|US5171289 *||18 Nov 1991||15 Dec 1992||Etablissements Tornier||Femoral prosthesis with cement retaining seal|
|US5201769 *||23 Sep 1991||13 Apr 1993||Schutzer Steven F||Hip stem with proximal build-up blocks|
|US5314492 *||11 May 1992||24 May 1994||Johnson & Johnson Orthopaedics, Inc.||Composite prosthesis|
|US5336265 *||13 Nov 1992||9 Aug 1994||De Puy, Inc.||Reduced stiffness femoral hip implant|
|US5571193 *||11 Jun 1992||5 Nov 1996||Kampner; Stanley L.||Implant with reinforced resorbable stem|
|USRE32471 *||23 Jan 1985||11 Aug 1987||Waldemar Link Gmbh & Co.||Hip joint prosthesis with a shaft to be fitted into the medullary canal of the femur|
|DE3833854A1 *||5 Oct 1988||12 Apr 1990||Manfred Dr Lau||Portable computer (laptop) with integrated printer|
|FR2538242A1 *||Title not available|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US6616697||13 Mar 2001||9 Sep 2003||Nicholas G. Sotereanos||Hip implant assembly|
|US6942702 *||18 Nov 2002||13 Sep 2005||Tomihisa Koshino||Stem of artificial hip joint|
|US7033399||22 Aug 2003||25 Apr 2006||Ortho Innovations, Inc.||Welded hip prosthesis|
|US7247171||11 Mar 2002||24 Jul 2007||Sotereanos Nicholas G||Modular hip implants|
|US7758653||21 May 2003||20 Jul 2010||Active Implants Corporation||Implants|
|US8029573||7 Dec 2006||4 Oct 2011||Ihip Surgical, Llc||Method and apparatus for total hip replacement|
|US8211183||16 Mar 2011||3 Jul 2012||Ihip Surgical, Llc||Methods and systems for total hip replacement|
|US8579985||22 Dec 2011||12 Nov 2013||Ihip Surgical, Llc||Method and apparatus for hip replacement|
|US8795381||14 May 2012||5 Aug 2014||Ihip Surgical, Llc||Methods and systems for hip replacement|
|US8814946||17 Jul 2009||26 Aug 2014||Active Implants Corporation||Cushion bearing implants for load bearing applications|
|US8974540||12 Mar 2013||10 Mar 2015||Ihip Surgical, Llc||Method and apparatus for attachment in a modular hip replacement or fracture fixation device|
|US9237949||11 Nov 2013||19 Jan 2016||Ihip Surgical, Llc||Method and apparatus for hip replacement|
|US20030171819 *||11 Mar 2002||11 Sep 2003||Sotereanos Nicholas G.||Modular hip implants|
|US20050043811 *||22 Aug 2003||24 Feb 2005||Doubler Robert L.||Welded hip prosthesis|
|US20050137711 *||19 Dec 2003||23 Jun 2005||Southworth Carleton B.||Pre-stressed implant|
|US20060052877 *||22 Aug 2003||9 Mar 2006||Doubler Robert L||Welded hip prosthesis|
|US20060259152 *||17 Jul 2006||16 Nov 2006||Depuy Products, Inc.||Pre-stressed implant|
|WO2001064139A3 *||28 Feb 2001||7 Feb 2002||Hammill Mfg Co||Joint prosthesis having variable flexibility|
|International Classification||A61F2/00, A61B17/00, A61F2/30, A61B17/74, A61F2/36|
|Cooperative Classification||A61F2002/30332, A61F2002/30131, A61F2002/3611, A61F2002/3631, A61F2230/0076, A61F2002/365, A61F2250/0029, A61F2002/30729, A61F2002/3684, A61B17/00491, A61F2/3662, A61F2230/0067, A61F2220/0033, A61F2230/0006, A61B17/742, A61F2002/30205, A61F2002/30113, A61F2/36, A61F2/367, A61F2/3672, A61F2230/0013, A61F2250/0039, A61F2310/00011, A61F2002/30018, A61F2002/30327, A61F2002/30253, A61F2/3676, A61F2002/3647, A61F2/30771|
|12 Oct 1999||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: SCHREINER COLLEGE, TEXAS
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CUNNINGHAM, ROBERT A.;THORINGTON, ELIZABETH;REEL/FRAME:010299/0149
Effective date: 19991002
|21 Nov 2001||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|14 Dec 2005||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|26 May 2006||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|25 Jul 2006||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20060526