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Two telemeterized femoral components were implanted in two patients as part of normal total hip replacement procedures. The two components were instrumented to measure the three force components directed along: (a) the neck axis, (b) transverse to the neck axis and in the plane of the prosthesis, and (c) transverse to the neck axis and perpendicular to the plane of the prosthesis. Data were collected at multiple sessions during the early postoperative period for a number of standard activities, including gait, stair climbing, rising from a chair, single leg stance, double leg stance, ipsilateral and contralateral straight leg lifts while supine, ipsilateral flexion and extension while standing, and ipsilateral abduction while standing and lying on the contralateral side. These data are summarized and compared with the published results from analytic studies and with the results from previous studies using instrumented femoral components. Peak loads for gait during the period of study were roughly 2.7 body weights (BW) when the patients walked at their normal pace. Contact forces at the hip during stationary single leg stance approximated the peak loads during gait with values ranging from 2.1 to 2.8 BW. The highest forces recorded reached values approaching 5.5 BW and occurred during periods of instability while the patient engaged in stationary single leg stance. Our in vivo data indicate that forces generated during the above activities increase in magnitude quite rapidly during the early postoperative period and that during this period the patients have the ability to perform the activities of daily living without generating the high amplitude joint contact forces suggested by the results of dynamic studies. Joint contact forces during gait were found to depend on speed, but the high absolute magnitudes predicted by model studies were not supported by the in vivo data.

Torques generated in one subject during the early postoperative period were measured with a telemeterized total hip component. The patient was examined during gait, stair ascent, rising from a chair, and single-limb stance. The torques were plotted against both the resultant joint contact force and the force component directed along the stem axis. During gait, the maximum torque was 35 Nm, recorded at a walking velocity of 1.7 m/sec. The peak torques during stair ascent and during rising from a seated position were found to be 23 and 15 Nm, respectively. The maximum value for torque measured in this study was 37 Nm during one attempt at single-limb stance. Comparison of plots for torque versus stem-axis component for the four activities shows that the torque increased more rapidly for chair exits than for gait up to resultant contact force values of as much as 1,000 N. For stair ascent, the same was true to values of 1,400 N. Within any given activity, the relationship between stem torque and resultant or stem-axis force showed considerable variability. These results indicate that experiments evaluating the stability of femoral components in total hip arthroplasty should incorporate a component directed along the stem axis, as well as a component normal to the plane of the prosthesis. The results also suggest that theoretical stress analysis models should consider the broad variability in the orientation of the joint force at the hip.

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