Method of forming implantable prostheses for reconstructive surgery

Claim 1

A method of fabricating a three dimensional corporeal model of a structure internal to a body, comprising: subjecting the body to radiant energy to produce radiant energy responses internal to said body, the radiant energy selected to produce radiant energy responses that are characteristic of a selected physical property of substances detectable exterior of the body; detecting produced radiant energy responses to obtain representations of substances at locations internal to the body defining structures internal to said body three-dimensionally; generating from the representations of the substances a set of three dimensional coordinates defining a three dimensional representation of a selected structure internal to the body; and directing a sculpting tool into a workpiece in accordance with the generated set of three dimensional coordinates to form a corporeal model corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the selected structure.

Claim 2

A method of fabricating a three dimensional corporeal model of a structure internal to a body, comprising: subjecting the body to radiant energy to produce radiant energy responses internal to said body, the radiant energy selected to produce radiant energy responses that are characteristic of a selected physical property of substances detectable exterior of the body; detecting produced radiant energy responses to obtain representations of substances at locations internal to the body defining structures internal to said body three-dimensionally; generating from the representations of the substances a set of three dimensional coordinates defining a three dimensional representation of a selected structure internal to the body; and directing a sculpting tool into a workpiece in accordance with the generated set of three dimensional coordinates to form a corporeal model corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the selected structure.

Claim 15

A method of fabricating a three dimensional corporeal model of a selected structure internal to a body by a sculpting tool from three dimensional coordinates defining a three dimensional representation of said selected structure, said data obtained by subjecting the selected structure within the body to radiant energy selected to be productive of selected radiant energy responses that are characteristic of substances and detectable at the exterior of said body, detecting the radiant energy responses to obtain representations of the selected structure, and generating from the representations the three dimensional coordinates, comprising: directing the sculpting tool into a workpiece in accordance with the generated three dimensional coordinates to form a corporeal model corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the selected structure.

Claim 16

A method of fabricating a three dimensional corporeal model of a selected structure internal to a body by a sculpting tool from three dimensional coordinates defining a three dimensional representation of said selected structure, said data obtained by subjecting the selected structure within the body to radiant energy selected to be productive of selected radiant energy responses that are characteristic of substances and detectable at the exterior of said body, detecting the radiant energy responses to obtain representations of the selected structure, and generating from the representations the three dimensional coordinates, comprising: directing the sculpting tool into a workpiece in accordance with the generated three dimensional coordinates to form a corporeal model corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the selected structure.

Claim 19

A method of generating three dimensional coordinates for directing a sculpting tool to form a three dimensional corporeal model of a structure internal to a body, comprising: subjecting the body to radiant energy to produce radiant energy responses internal to said body that are characteristic of substances and detectable at the exterior the body; detecting produced radiant energy responses to obtain representations of substances at locations internal to the body defining structures internal to the body three dimensionally; and generating from the representations of the substances three dimensional coordinates defining a three dimensional representation of a selected structure internal of the body, the three dimensional coordinates generated for directing the sculpting tool into a workpiece to form a corporeal model corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the selected structure.

Claim 20

A method of generating three dimensional coordinates for directing a sculpting tool to form a three dimensional corporeal model of a structure internal to a body, comprising: subjecting the body to radiant energy to produce radiant energy responses internal to said body that are characteristic of substances and detectable at the exterior the body; detecting produced radiant energy responses to obtain representations of substances at locations internal to the body defining structures internal to the body three dimensionally; and generating from the representations of the substances three dimensional coordinates defining a three dimensional representation of a selected structure internal of the body, the three dimensional coordinates generated for directing the sculpting tool into a workpiece to form a corporeal model corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the selected structure.

Claim 26

A method of fabricating a three dimensional corporeal model of selected tissue structure internal to an anatomy, comprising: subjecting the anatomy to radiant energy to produce radiant energy responses internal to said anatomy that are characteristic of tissue structure of said anatomy and that are detectable at the exterior of said anatomy at a plurality of locations each of which is along a path extending in a different selected direction relative to the selected tissue structure; detecting produced radiant energy responses at the exterior of the anatomy at selected locations of the plurality of locations to obtain representations of the selected tissue structure that are definitive of a selected three dimensional representation thereof; generating from the obtained representations of the selected tissue structure selected three dimensional coordinates defining the selected three dimensional representation of the selected tissue structure; and directing a sculpting tool into a workpiece in accordance with the generated selected three dimensional coordinates to form a corporeal model corresponding to the selected three dimensional representation of the selected tissue structure.

Claim 27

A method of fabricating a three dimensional corporeal model of selected tissue structure internal to an anatomy, comprising: subjecting the anatomy to radiant energy to produce radiant energy responses internal to said anatomy that are characteristic of tissue structure of said anatomy and that are detectable at the exterior of said anatomy at a plurality of locations each of which is along a path extending in a different selected direction relative to the selected tissue structure; detecting produced radiant energy responses at the exterior of the anatomy at selected locations of the plurality of locations to obtain representations of the selected tissue structure that are definitive of a selected three dimensional representation thereof; generating from the obtained representations of the selected tissue structure selected three dimensional coordinates defining the selected three dimensional representation of the selected tissue structure; and directing a sculpting tool into a workpiece in accordance with the generated selected three dimensional coordinates to form a corporeal model corresponding to the selected three dimensional representation of the selected tissue structure.

Claim 33

A method of fabricating a prosthesis representative of a selected tissue structure internal to a mammalian anatomy, comprising: subjecting the anatomy to radiant energy; detecting exterior of said anatomy, resulting radiant energy responses produced at a plurality of parallel planes distributed at spaced locations in a selected direction relative to the said anatomy, the radiant energy selected to produce radiant energy responses internal to said anatomy that are characteristic of tissue structure of the anatomy and that are detectable from the exterior of said anatomy, the anatomy subjected to the radiant energy and resulting radiant energy responses detected to be productive of selected representations of the structure internal to the anatomy definitive of the prosthesis to be fabricated; generating from the selected representations of the structure internal to the anatomy selected three dimensional coordinates defining a selected representation of the prosthesis; and directing a sculpting tool into the workpiece in accordance with the generated selected three dimensional coordinates to form the selected representation of the prosthesis.

Claim 34

A method of fabricating a prosthesis representative of a selected tissue structure internal to a mammalian anatomy, comprising: subjecting the anatomy to radiant energy; detecting exterior of said anatomy, resulting radiant energy responses produced at a plurality of parallel planes distributed at spaced locations in a selected direction relative to the said anatomy, the radiant energy selected to produce radiant energy responses internal to said anatomy that are characteristic of tissue structure of the anatomy and that are detectable from the exterior of said anatomy, the anatomy subjected to the radiant energy and resulting radiant energy responses detected to be productive of selected representations of the structure internal to the anatomy definitive of the prosthesis to be fabricated; generating from the selected representations of the structure internal to the anatomy selected three dimensional coordinates defining a selected representation of the prosthesis; and directing a sculpting tool into the workpiece in accordance with the generated selected three dimensional coordinates to form the selected representation of the prosthesis.