Potential Synthetic Biolubricant as an Alternative to Bovine Serum

Abstract

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.

Nanoparticle-Containing Hyaluronate Solution for Improved Lubrication of Orthopedic Ceramics

“…Artificial joints are so different from natural ones that a simple HA solution cannot provide adequate lubrication to artificial "rigid" joints. Even though natural and synthetic fluids have been formulated and studied for the lubrication of artificial joints, they have only been applied in wear tests of total joint replacements [16][17][18].…”

An investigation on tribological behavior of methacrylated κ-carrageenan and gellan gum hydrogels as a candidate for chondral repair

“…KA and GG polysaccharides have recently been researched as potential orthopedic lubricant, aqueous lubricant, food thickener, indicating their high lubricating performance which reduces the friction. [38][39][40][41] A few studies explored the tribology of KA and GG hydrogels. Kozbial and Li 42 investigated the friction performance of κ-carrageenan hydrogel by varying polymer concentration and cross-linking density, external load and sliding velocity in air and water solution.…”