Bone tissue at the interface of a bone implant is shielded from stresses
found in normal bone because of the higher stiffness or rigidity in the
implant versus in bone. The resulting "stress shielding" of the bone by
the implant eventually results in resorption of bone at the bone-implant
interface and ultimately necessitates replacement of the bone implant. To
overcome these problems, an implantable biomimetic prosthetic bone having
a porous surface, a fiber-reinforced composite structure, and a
polymer-based core is disclosed. The prosthetic bone is a good match for
structure, stiffness, viscoelastic properties, specific weight and
overall structure as real bone or host tissues adjacent to the prosthetic
bone. The prosthetic bone may be formed as a total hip prosthesis.