Importance

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Abstract

A method of fabricating medical devices and medical devices made from the method of fabricating a medical device, the medical device, without being exhaustive, may be a medical instrument, an implant, a prosthetic, a body support structure or the like. The method includes work-hardening a work-hardenable metal to achieve a desired microstructure of the metal, then fabricating a medical device in accordance with the desired microstructure utilizing the work-hardened metal. In one form, the desired microstructure is an elongated grain structure. The medical device is created from the grain-elongated metal such that the medical device is oriented relative to the plane of grain elongation. In a particular form of the invention, the medical device is a curved spine plate wherein elongated grains of the work hardened metal are oriented in a plane normal to a curvature of the spine plate. Work-hardening includes forging, cold rolling or hot rolling, and annealing prior to use in medical device fabrication. This creates a metal implant stock that has more strength and flexibility in compression and bending than without undergoing the present work-hardening. These properties are exploited in medical device design, fabrication, fabrication orientation and/or the like to create medical devices such as super strong implants.

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First Claim