Patent ID: 9370878
Filing Date: 2016-06-21
CPC Classification: A61L,B29C,C08J,C08K,C08L,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A method of making a wear resistant non-oxidizing cross-linked polymeric blend material containing detectable residual free radicals, wherein the wear resistant non-oxidizing cross-linked polymeric blend material is used for making a medical implant obtained by a process comprising the steps of: (a) blending a polymeric material with an antioxidant in the absence of a supercritical fluid, thereby forming a polymeric blend material; (b) consolidating the polymeric blend material; (c) heating the consolidated polymeric blend material to an elevated temperature that is above the room temperature and below the melting point of the polymeric blend material; (d) irradiating the heated consolidated polymeric blend material with ionizing radiation at an elevated temperature that is above the room temperature and below the melting point of the polymeric blend material, thereby preserving crystallinity of the irradiated polymeric material, and forming a wear resistant non-oxidizing cross-linked polymeric blend material having detectable residual free radicals; and (e) machining the cross-linked consolidated polymeric blend material containing detectable residual free radicals from step (d), thereby forming a wear resistant non-oxidizing cross-linked consolidated polymeric blend material for the medical implant, wherein the polymeric blend material contains detectable residual free radicals and is resistant to leaching of the antioxidant out of the polymeric blend material.