Patent ID: 8323346

Claim:
A joint prosthesis articulation comprising: a first component having a concave articulation surface, the concave articulation surface having a substantially smooth contour; and a second component having a convex articulation surface, the convex articulation surface having a substantially smooth contour, wherein the concave and the convex articulation surfaces are configured to present a smooth annular undulating surface with raised and recessed regions and are congruent over an interrupted surface area corresponding to the raised regions when the concave and convex articulation surfaces are in an undeformed state, thereby defining an interrupted annular band of surface contact between the concave and convex articulation surfaces when the concave and convex articulation surfaces are undeformed, and wherein the interrupted annular band of contact between the concave and the convex articulation surfaces transforms into an uninterrupted annular band of contact when the joint prosthesis articulation is under physiological loads.