Carbon–carbon composite bearing materials in hip arthroplasty: analysis of wear and biological response to wear debris

Abstract

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene wear particles have been implicated as the major cause of osteolysis, implant loosening and late aseptic failure in total hip arthroplasties in vivo. This study initially screened 22 carbon-carbon composite materials as alternatives for UHMWPE in joint bearings. New bearing materials should satisfy certain criteria--they should have good wear properties that at least match UHMWPE, and produce wear particles with low levels of cytotoxic and osteolytic activity. Initial screening was based on wear resistance determined in short-term tribological pin-on-plate tests. Three materials (HMU-PP(s), HMU-RC-P(s), and SMS-RC-P(s)) which had superior wear resistance were selected for long-term testing. All materials had very low wear factors and SMS-RC-P(s), which had a wear factor of 0.08 +/- 0.56 x 10(-7) mm3/Nm, was selected for the subsequent biological testing and particle size analysis. SMS-RC-P(s) showed good biocompatibility in bulk material form and also the wear particles had low cytotoxicity for L929 fibroblasts in culture compared to metal wear particles. Wear debris size analysis by transmission electron microscopy showed that the particles were very small, with the vast majority being under 100 nm in size, similar to metal wear particles. The potential osteolytic effect of SMS-RC-P(s) wear particles was investigated by culturing particles with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and measuring TNFalpha production. SMS-RC-P(s) did not significantly stimulate TNFalpha production at a particle volume to cell number ratio of 80:1, indicating that the debris had a low osteolytic potential. The results of this study suggest that carbon-carbon composites, particularly those composed of PAN-based fibers may be important biomaterials in the development of next generation bearing surfaces for use in total joint replacements that have very low wear rates and reduced osteolytic and cytotoxic potential.

Osteogenesis and cytotoxicity of a new Carbon Fiber/Flax/Epoxy composite material for bone fracture plate applications

“…To address these negative effects, polymer-based composite materials have been introduced for biomedical purposes because of their high strength-to-weight ratio, non-corrosiveness, tailorability, and radiolucency [5][6][7][8][9][10]. For these reasons, many kinds of polymer-based composite materials reinforced with carbon [6,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], aramid [20], glass [7,21], and natural fibers [22] have been explored for bone fracture plating.…”

“…The benefits of using the present composite structure over a clinically used metal plate for repairing femur fracture are its ease of fabrication, its lower cost since the majority of its composition is flax fiber which is abundant in nature, and its unique biomechanical properties. In terms of its static and dynamic mechanical properties, the current CF/Flax/Epoxy has a comparable elastic modulus (axial: 42 GPa, bending: 57 GPa) vs. human cortical bone (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) with superior strength (axial, 400 MPa; bending, 511 MPa; fatigue, 200-220 MPa) vs. human cortical bone [11,26]. In addition, this composite retains its mechanical properties (i.e.…”

A SiC whisker reinforced high-temperature resistant phosphate adhesive for bonding carbon/carbon composites

“…At present, C/C components with large sizes and complicate shapes are extensively used in the fields of aerospace, aviation and industry. However, it is difficult and expensive to prepare large size and complex structure C/C components directly because of their brittle characteristic, high cost of processing as well as long preparation cycle [6][7][8]. One alternative way is to join several small, simple C/C parts into the large, complicated components.…”

Biocompatibility and osteogenic potential of human fetal femur-derived cells on surface selective laser sintered scaffolds

“…In the current in vitro and in vivo studies we found that the SSLS-PLA scaffolds showed no deleterious effects on human fetal femur-derived cell activity, and the field of bone tissue engineering has successfully used carbon composites in a number of procedures. Lower wear rates and reduced osteolytic and cytotoxicity effects were demonstrated in carbon-carbon composite bearing materials for artificial hip joints [32] and carbon fiber cages have been used in spinal fusions [33] with no adverse complications. Indeed, studies now indicate the osteogenic effect of carbon coatings on orthopedic implants [34].…”