Vesa Saikko

Wear simulation of total hip prostheses with polyethylene against CoCr, alumina and diamond-like carbon

The wear of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene acetabular cups was studied with a new biaxial hip wear simulator using diluted calf serum as a lubricant. The cups had been packed and gamma-irradiated in argon. The cups were articulated against two established types of femoral head, alumina and CoCr, and one experimental type, CoCr coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC). The diameter of the heads was 28 mm. Polyethylene against alumina and against CoCr were studied because their clinical wear behaviour is relatively well known. The new simulator was validated with these established materials. The wear mechanisms, including the size and shape of the wear particles, agreed well with those seen in clinical studies. The average wear rates of the cups against alumina and CoCr heads were 48 and 56 mg per 1 million cycles, respectively. The order is in agreement with clinical observations. The average wear rate against DLC was 58 mg per 1 million cycles. As a counterface for polyethylene, DLC did not markedly differ from alumina and CoCr.

A multidirectional motion pin-on-disk wear test method for prosthetic joint materials.

A realistic pin-on-disk wear test method for prosthetic joint materials has been developed. The new method, called circularly translating pin-on-disk (CTPOD), yields wear rates and wear mechanisms similar to those observed in retrieved polyethylene acetabular cups. In the established methods, where a polyethylene specimen slides against a unidirectionally rotating, or reciprocating, metallic or ceramic counterface, the wear rate typically is two orders of magnitude too low. In the present study, also, the reciprocator gave negligible wear. In the CTPOD method, considerable wear occurs because the direction of sliding rotates relative to the polyethylene pin, hence, the molecular orientation effect of polyethylene is avoided.

Wear of the polyethylene acetabular cup. Metallic and ceramic heads compared in a hip simulator.

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene acetabular cups of 5 different total hip systems (Müller, Mallory-Head, Lubinus, P.C.A. and Charnley-Elite) were worn on a new 5-station hip joint simulator. The cups articulated against modular metallic (stainless steel in Müller and Charnley-Elite, ion-implanted Ti-6Al-4V in Mallory-Head, and Co-Cr-Mo in Lubinus and P.C.A.) and modular alumina ceramic femoral heads for 3 million walking cycles. The mean wear rate of cups against alumina heads (range 0-5.7 mg/10(6) cycles, corresponding to 0-0.008 mm/year) was usually lower than against metallic heads (range 3.9-178 mg/10(6) cycles, corresponding to 0.005-0.24 mm/year). In the metal-head prostheses, the mean wear rate was highest against stainless steel heads, and lowest against ion-implanted Ti-6Al-4V heads. As the wear rates are compared with published clinical observations, it can be concluded that the hip joint simulator is capable of producing realistic wear rates; it is a useful instrument in the study of the wear behavior of new designs, materials, surface treatments and coatings prior to clinical trials. However, the taper-fit attachment of modular heads proved problematical, showing corrosion and wear at the conical head-spigot interface.

Type of motion and lubricant in wear simulation of polyethylene acetabular cup

Abstract The wear of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, the most commonly used bearing material in prosthetic joints, is often substantial, posing a significant clinical problem. For a long time, there has been a need for simple but still realistic wear test devices for prosthetic joint materials. The wear factors produced by earlier reciprocating and unidirectionally rotating wear test devices for polyethylene are typically two orders of magnitude too low, both in water and in serum lubrication. Wear is negligible even under multidirectional motion in water. A twelve-station, circularly translating pin-on-disc (CTPOD) device and a modification of the established biaxial rocking motion hip joint simulator were built. With these simple and inexpensive devices, and with the established three-axis hip joint simulator, realistic wear simulation was achieved. This was due to serum lubrication and to the fact that the direction of sliding constantly changed relative to the polyethylene specimen. The type and magnitude of load was found to be less important. The CTPOD tests showed that the subsurface brittle region, which results from gamma irradiation sterilization of polyethylene in air, has poor wear resistance. Phospholipid and soy protein lubrication resulted in unrealistic wear. The introduction of devices like CTPOD may boost wear studies, rendering them feasible without heavy investment.

Slide track analysis of the relative motion between femoral head and acetabular cup in walking and in hip simulators

Joint simulators are important tools in wear studies of prosthetic joint materials. The type of motion in a joint simulator is crucial with respect to the wear produced. It is widely accepted that only multidirectional motion yields realistic wear for polyethylene acetabular cups. Multidirectionality, however, is a wide concept. The type of multidirectional motion varies considerably between simulators, which may explain the large differences in observed wear rates. At present, little is known about the relationship between the type of multidirectional motion and wear. One illustrative way to compare the motions of various hip simulators is to compute tracks made on the counterface by selected points of the surface of the femoral head and acetabular cup due to the cyclic relative motion. A new computation method, based on Euler angles, was developed, and used to compute slide tracks for the three-axis motion of the hip joint in walking, and for two hip simulators, the HUT-3 and the biaxial rocking motion. The slide track patterns resulting from the gait waveforms were found to be similar to those produced by the HUT-3 simulator. This paper is the first to include a verification of the computed simulator tracks. The tracks were verified in the two simulators using sharp pins, embedded in acetabular cups, engraving distinct grooves onto the femoral heads. The engravings were identical to the computed tracks. The results clearly differed from earlier computations by another research group. This study is intended to start a thorough investigation of the relationship between the type of multidirectional motion and wear.

Effect of counterface roughness on the wear of conventional and crosslinked ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene studied with a multi-directional motion pin-on-disk device

The effect of counterface roughness on the wear of conventional gamma-sterilized, and electron-beam-crosslinked ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene was studied with a circularly translating pin-on-disk device. The counterfaces, CoCr disks, were either polished, or roughened so that they represented the type of roughening and the range of surface roughness values (R(a) = 0.014-0.24 microm) observed in explanted femoral heads of total hip prostheses. The lubricant was diluted calf serum, and the test length 3 million cycles. A total of 24 tests were done. With both types of polyethylene, there was a strong correlation between R(a) and wear factor k. The power equations were k = 5.87 x 10(-5)(R(a))(0.91) for conventional polyethylene (R(2) = 0.94), and k = 7.87 x 10(-5)(R(a))(2.49) for crosslinked polyethylene (R(2) = 0.82). Crosslinking improved wear resistance significantly. The wear of crosslinked polyethylene against the roughest counterfaces was lower than the wear of conventional polyethylene against the polished counterfaces. Against rough counterfaces, the wear of crosslinked polyethylene was an order of magnitude lower than that of conventional polyethylene. On the crosslinked polyethylene pins that were tested against polished counterfaces, remains of original machining marks were still visible after the test. The average size of wear particles produced by both types of polyethylene against rough counterfaces was similar, 0.4 microm, whereas that produced by conventional and crosslinked polyethylene against polished counterfaces was significantly smaller, 0.2 and 0.1 microm, respectively.

Effect of contact pressure on wear and friction of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene in multidirectional sliding.

Abstract Computational wear models need input data from valid tribological tests. For the wear model of a total hip prosthesis, the contact pressure dependence of wear and friction of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) against polished CoCr in diluted calf serum lubricant was studied, and useful input data produced. Two test devices were designed and built: a heavy load circularly translating pin-on-disc (HL-CTPOD) wear test device and an HL-CTPOD friction measurement device. Both can be used with a wide range of loads. The wear surface diameter of the test pin was kept constant at 9 mm, whereas the load was varied so that the nominal contact pressure ranged from 0.1 to 20 MPa. The wear factor decreased with increasing contact pressure, whereas the coefficient of friction first increased with increasing contact pressure with low pressure values and then decreased. Up to the pressure of 2.0 MPa, the wear mechanisms and wear factors were in good agreement with clinical findings. In the critical range of 2.0-3.5 MPa, the wear mechanisms and wear factors started to differ from clinical ones, and the decrease of the wear factor steepened. The discrepancy became more and more evident as the pressure was gradually increased beyond 3.5 MPa. It appears that the pressure value of 2.0 MPa should not be exceeded in pin-on-disc wear tests that are to reproduce the clinical wear of UHMWPE acetabular cups.

Wear and friction properties of prosthetic joint materials evaluated on a reciprocating pin-on-flat apparatus

Abstract A three-station reciprocating pin-on-flat apparatus was constructed for tribological studies of materials for total replacement joints. Flat-ended cylindrical ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) pins were worn against Co-Cr-Mo, Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 and Si 3 N 4 counterfaces in distilled, de-ionized water. The temperature of the test environment was 37 ± 1 °C. The nominal contact pressure was 4.8 MPa, sliding distance per cycle 50 mm, frequency 1 Hz and test length 7 × 10 6 cycles with ZrO 2 and 5 × 10 6 cycles with all other counterfaces. The wear of the pins was measured gravimetrically at intervals of 5 × 10 5 cycles. The frictional forces were recorded continuously. The average wear factors of UHMWPE against Co-Cr-Mo, Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 and Si 3 N 4 were of the order of 10 −7 , 10 −9 , 10 −9 and 10 −8 mm 3 N −1 m −1 and the average coefficients of static friction were 0.10, 0.11, 0.13 and 0.13, respectively. The results indicate that Al 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 are distinctly superior to Co-Cr-Mo as counterfaces for UHMWPE in prosthetic joints. The difference between the wear of UHMWPE against Co-Cr-Mo and that against Al 2 O 3 is consistent with clinical observations. The apparatus will be a useful tool in the screening of new materials, surface treatments and coatings for prosthetic joints.

Effect of Lubricant Protein Concentration on the Wear of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Sliding Against a CoCr Counterface

In the wear testing of prosthetic joints, the optimal lubricant protein concentration is disputed. The effect of protein concentration of calf serum based lubricant on the wear of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene against CoCr was studied with a 12-station, circularly translating pin-on-disk device. The wear factor first steeply increased with increasing concentration, reached a peak at 10-20 mg/ml, and then slowly decreased. Below 20 mg/ml, the wear mechanisms were not entirely representative of clinical wear. Above this value, the morphology of the UHMWPE wear surface resembled that of retrieved cups. The results indicated that the concentration should not be below 20 mg/ml. The scope of this recommendation is discussed.

A three-axis hip joint simulator for wear and friction studies on total hip prostheses.

A three-axial, single-station hip joint simulator was designed and built for wear and friction studies on total hip prostheses. The design of the apparatus is described in detail. Continuous level walking is simulated. All three motion components, flexion-extension, abduction-adduction and internal-external rotation, are included. The motions are implemented electromechanically and the uniaxial load pneumatically. The load is measured continuously. For accurate measurement of wear, the apparatus has a loaded control joint, which also renders both the test and control joints self-centring, as they are loaded in series. The frictional torque of the test joint can be measured continuously throughout the wear test, which is an exceptional feature. Four tests of five million cycles each were completed using 32 mm diameter Co-Cr-Mo femoral heads and 5.6 mm thick, metal-backed, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene acetabular cups as test specimens. Their wear and friction behaviour is described and discussed in relation to previous simulator studies and clinical observations. The lubricant was distilled water, maintained at body temperature. The wear of the cups was measured gravimetrically at intervals. The average wear rate was 3.9 mg/one million cycles, corresponding to 0.03 mm/year, and the average coefficient of friction was 0.01.