Patent ID: 9707317
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: A61F,A61L,B22F

Claim:
1. A method of making a medical implant having a porous surface and a solid substrate, comprising the steps of: placing a finite number of individual metallic bodies in continuous contact with one another at a first interface, said finite number of individual metallic bodies comprising a first material; sintering said first material at the first interface by applying pulsed electrical energy across at least a portion of the aggregate mass of said individual metallic bodies, thereby creating a cohesive porous structure; placing the sintered first material in continuous contact with a second material at a second interface, said second material comprising a solid metallic substrate; and sintering said first material to the second material at the second interface by applying pulsed electrical energy across at least a portion of the aggregate mass of the first material and the second material; wherein the solid substrate possesses substantially the same bulk mechanical and tribological properties after the act of attaching the first material to the solid substrate as existed prior to the act of attaching the first material to the solid substrate.