Patent ID: 7947135

Claim:
A method for producing a weight-bearing femoral prosthesis, the prosthesis including a body for insertion into a surgically created cavity in a femur, the cavity having a length, a width, a proximal portion, and a distal portion, the proximal portion of the cavity having a widthwise cross section that is defined by an inner surface of the cavity, the method comprising: providing a workpiece of shape memory alloy characterized by an austenite finish temperature; forming the workpiece into a weight-bearing femoral prosthesis, the prosthesis including a body having a length and a width, the forming being performed at a temperature above the austenite finish temperature, the body being formed to have a widthwise cross section so that, when the body is inserted into the cavity and expanded, at least 70% of the widthwise cross section of the proximal portion of the cavity is occupied by shape memory alloy; and training at least a portion of the body, including the widthwise cross section, by subjecting the body to a plurality of opposing compressive forces at a temperature below the austenite finish temperature so that at least a portion of the body will expand through the formation of austenite in response to a temperature increase after insertion into the cavity so as to cause a locking-force to be exerted against the inner surface of the cavity.