Filippo Zanini

Quantification of wear and deformation in different configurations of polyethylene acetabular cups using micro x-ray computed tomography

Wear is currently quantified as mass loss of the bearing materials measured using gravimetric methods. However, this method does not provide other information, such as volumetric loss or surface deviation. In this work, we validated a technique to quantify polyethylene wear in three different batches of ultrahigh-molecular-polyethylene acetabular cups used for hip implants using nondestructive microcomputed tomography. Three different configurations of polyethylene acetabular cups, previously tested under the ISO 14242 parameters, were tested on a hip simulator for an additional 2 million cycles using a modified ISO 14242 load waveform. In this context, a new approach was proposed in order to simulate, on a hip joint simulator, high-demand activities. In addition, the effects of these activities were analyzed in terms of wear and deformations of those polyethylenes by means of gravimetric method and micro X-ray computed tomography. In particular, while the gravimetric method was used for weight loss assessment, microcomputed tomography allowed for acquisition of additional quantitative information about the evolution of local wear and deformation through three-dimensional surface deviation maps for the entire cups’ surface. Experimental results showed that the wear and deformation behavior of these materials change according to different mechanical simulations.

Micro X-ray computed tomography mass loss assessment of different UHMWPE: A hip joint simulator study on standard vs. Cross-linked polyethylene

More than 60.000 hip arthroplasty are performed every year in Italy. Although Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight-Polyethylene remains the most used material as acetabular cup, wear of this material induces over time in vivo a foreign-body response and consequently osteolysis, pain, and the need of implant revision. Furthermore, oxidative wear of the polyethylene provoke several and severe failures. To solve these problems, highly cross-linked polyethylene and Vitamin-E-stabilized polyethylene were introduced in the last years. In in vitro experiments, various efforts have been made to compare the wear behavior of standard PE and vitamin-E infused liners. In this study we compared the in vitro wear behavior of two different configurations of cross-linked polyethylene (with and without the add of Vitamin E) vs. the standard polyethylene acetabular cups. The aim of the present study was to validate a micro X-ray computed tomography technique to assess the wear of different commercially available, polyethylene’s acetabular cups after wear simulation; in particular, the gravimetric method was used to provide reference wear values. The agreement between the two methods is documented in this paper.

Laser Profiling of Aluminum Oxide Grinding Wheels

Laser profiling experiments are performed at normal incidence on fine grain medium density aluminum oxide grinding wheels with a pulsed nanosecond 1064nm fiber laser source with maximum pulse fluence 369J/cm2. In order to determine the incision depth and ideal laser pass separation distance, laser exposures are first performed on high purity, low porosity aluminum oxide blocks and subsequently analyzed with an optical profiler operating in confocal mode. This ablation data is then applied to path planning for grinding wheel profiling experiments, with division of the necessary removal depth according to the measured incision depth and ideal pass separation distance. X-ray computed tomography is utilized to determine the resulting profile accuracy as a function of process parameters. Test results indicate a maximum profile accuracy in the order of 200μm; however, in order to approach the accuracy of diamond dressing, some two orders of magnitude lower, it is likely that tangential laser incidence is necessary.Copyright