The prosthetic temporomandibular implant (10) comprises a concave surface
(16) and a convex surface (17) designed to cooperate, respectively, with
the natural outer surface (9) of the condyle (5) and the natural inner
surface (7) of the fossa (8) of a damaged joint (2) of a human mandible
(1). It is made of a rigid biocompatible material such as ceramic,
stainless steel or an aluminum/zirconium alloy.
The implant is designed based on an image of the joint (2) generated by a
medical imaging system and incorporating an image of a healthy joint (3);
these three-dimensional images are processed by a CAD (segmentation,
vectorization) system to obtain a vector representation of the implant
(10) and a data file capable of controlling a digital milling machine.
The invention is applicable to the restoration of a damaged TMJ (2).