Title :
The effect of laser etching on the load carrying capacities of the Christensen temporomandibular joint implant
Author :
Saha, Subrata ; Campbell, Craig ; Furman, Ben ; Christensen, Robert W.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Bioeng., Clemson Univ., SC, USA
fDate :
29 Oct-1 Nov 1998
Abstract :
Laser etching is often used to identify the manufacturer and the production lot number of medical implants. This study investigated if a such laser etching may act as a site for stress concentration and thus reduce the mechanical strength of such implants. We tested the bending strength of the condylar components of R.W. Christensen´s (1972) temporomandibular joint (TMJ) prosthesis with and without laser etchings. The normalized stiffness and the yield strength of the laser-etched implants did not differ significantly from the properties of un-etched implants. Our results suggest that laser etching of these implants does not adversely affect the mechanical performance of TMJ implants
Keywords :
bending strength; biomedical engineering; laser beam etching; prosthetics; yield strength; Christensen temporomandibular joint implant; bending strength; condylar components; laser etching; load-carrying capacity; manufacturer identification; mechanical performance; mechanical strength; medical implants; normalized stiffness; production lot number; prosthesis; stress concentration; yield strength; Biomedical engineering; Biomedical measurements; Etching; Implants; Laser modes; Manufacturing; Microscopy; Prosthetics; Stress; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1998. Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
Hong Kong
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5164-9
DOI :
10.1109/IEMBS.1998.746226