Development of a synovial fluid analogue with bio-relevant rheology for wear testing of orthopaedic implants

Smith, Alan M.; Fleming, Leigh; Wudebwe, Uchena; Bowen, James; Grover, Liam M.

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2013.12.009

Cited by 27 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Moreover, the moduli measured in the synovial fluid and the new lubricant samples were over an order of magnitude greater than that of the bovine serum. It is thought that the viscoelastic behavior of the alginate/gellan mixture is due to the alginate providing the viscous response at low frequencies and the gellan contributing to the elastic response at high frequencies [10]. Table 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sodium alginate was used as a synthetic substitute to hyaluronic acid, giving the lubricant non-Newtonian characteristics as seen with synovial fluid, while the gellan gum replaced the lubricin in synovial fluid and aimed to reproduce the viscoelasticity of synovial fluid. Stock solutions of the test lubricants were prepared as previously described [10]. A 50:50 mix of 2% w/w alginate (Protanal LF200) and 0.75% w/w gellan gum (kelcogel CG-LA) were subjected to viscosity measurements at 37 °C using a sheer ramp from 0.1-10 s −1 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To add to this body of data a new lubricant was investigated which has been shown to mimic certain rheological properties of synovial fluid [10]. Wear tests were undertaken in a screening wear tester which had previously been shown to produce clinically relevant wear factors for orthopedic biopolymers [11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wear Tests of a Potential Biolubricant for Orthopedic Biopolymers

et al. 2015

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Most wear testing of orthopedic implant materials is undertaken with dilute bovine serum used as the lubricant. However, dilute bovine serum is different to the synovial fluid in which natural and artificial joints must operate. As part of a search for a lubricant which more closely resembles synovial fluid, a lubricant based on a mixture of sodium alginate and gellan gum, and which aimed to match the rheology of synovial fluid, was produced. It was employed in a wear test of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene pins rubbing against a metallic counterface. The test rig applied multidirectional motion to the test pins and had previously been shown to reproduce clinically relevant wear factors for ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. After 2.4 million cycles (125 km) of sliding in the presence of the new lubricant, a mean wear factor of 0.099 × 10 −6 mm 3 /Nm was measured for the ultra high molecular weight polyethylene pins. This was over an order of magnitude less than when bovine serum was used as a lubricant. In addition, there was evidence of a transfer film on the test plates. Such transfer films are not seen clinically.The search for a lubricant more closely matching synovial fluid continues.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wear Tests of a Potential Biolubricant for Orthopedic Biopolymers

et al. 2015

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“…This lubricant was based on the lubricant tested by Thompson et al (2015) [16]. The lubricant tested in the study by Thompson et al (2015) [16] (0.75% gellan gum/2% alginate mixture) has been shown to have similar non-Newtonian properties to synovial fluid, but it gave lower wear rates than that expected for bovine serum [16,19]. Gellan gum in particular, has attracted recent attention in the biomedical sector and has been investigated as a biomaterial [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gellan gum in particular, has attracted recent attention in the biomedical sector and has been investigated as a biomaterial [20]. Gellan has the ability to form strong ionotropic gels with divalent cations and monovalent cations, and also has weak gel properties if no cations are added [19]. If a shear force is applied to gel forming biopolymers such as gellan gum during the sol-gel transition, the material formed is a suspension of microgel particles which behave in bulk as a pourable viscoelastic fluid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Synthetic Biolubricant as an Alternative to Bovine Serum

et al. 2016

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Abstract:It is crucial that orthopaedic implant materials are tested in conditions that replicate the natural body's environment as closely as possible. Bovine serum is currently recommended for use by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for the wear testing of these implant materials, however, the rheological properties of bovine serum do not match fully those of the body's natural lubricant, synovial fluid. This study looks at a potential alternative to bovine serum for the testing of orthopaedic implant materials; 0.5% gellan gum fluid gel. Wear tests using multidirectional motion were conducted on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) pins rubbing against stainless steel plates. Roughness measurements were performed during testing along with particle analysis of the testing lubricant. At two million cycles (equivalent to 121.3 km of sliding), the mean wear factor for the four UHMWPE pins was 0.25 (standard deviation (SD) 0.03) × 10 −6 mm 3 /Nm and there was no evidence of any transfer film on the plate surfaces. The wear factor produced by 0.5% gellan gum fluid gel was lower than that measured in previous studies using bovine serum as the lubricant but greater than the wear factor shown in published work using a similar alternative lubricant (sodium alginate mixed with gellan gum). Work on the development of a suitable alternative lubricant to bovine serum will continue.

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Characteristics of synovial fluid required for optimization of lubrication fluid for biotribological experiments

et al. 2016

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Wear testing of total joint replacement (TJR) is mandatory in preclinical testing before implantation of TJR into the human body. Testing is governed by current international standards that recommend bovine serum (BS) as a lubricating fluid to replace synovial fluid (SF). Recently, the use of BS has been criticized because of differences in content, fluid characteristics, and nonhuman origin. As a result, a more realistic lubricant mimicking SF is needed. To define SF composition, we analyzed SF obtained during revisions of total hip and knee arthroplasties and compared it with SF obtained during primary arthroplasties and from patients without TJR. Samples were acquired from 152 patients. We found that the median total protein concentration for all SF was 36.8 mg/mL, which is significantly higher than concentrations currently recommended by the ISO standards. The γ-globulin concentration was significantly higher and the phospholipid concentration significantly lower in patients with revision of TJR compared with patients without TJR. No significant difference was found in hyaluronic acid concentration and viscosity among the groups. Our results support the need to improve the definition of a more clinically relevant wear testing lubricant in the ISO standards. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 1422-1431, 2017.

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Development of a synovial fluid analogue with bio-relevant rheology for wear testing of orthopaedic implants

Cited by 27 publications

References 18 publications

Wear Tests of a Potential Biolubricant for Orthopedic Biopolymers

Wear Tests of a Potential Biolubricant for Orthopedic Biopolymers

Potential Synthetic Biolubricant as an Alternative to Bovine Serum

Characteristics of synovial fluid required for optimization of lubrication fluid for biotribological experiments

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