Patent ID: 9132209
Filing Date: 2015-09-15
Classification: A61L,C08J,C08K

Abstract:
1. A method for producing a wear resistant ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene medical implant comprising: forming a medical implant made at least partially of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) with a bearing surface of the medical implant made of virgin UHMWPE; irradiating the medical implant with gamma ray or e-beam radiation to form free radicals and crosslinking the formed free radicals prior to exposure to air; thereafter coating the virgin UHMWPE bearing surface of the crosslinked medical implant with a uniform film of photoinitiator by evaporating the photoinitiator and then allowing it to condense onto the UHMWPE bearing surface; thereafter breaking carbon-hydrogen bonds in the UHMWPE by exposing the coated surface to ultra-violet (UV) radiation at an intensity of less than 100 mW/cm thereafter removing the photoinitiator to produce a surface consisting essentially of crosslinked UHMWPE.