Quantification of third-body damage and its effect on UHMWPE wear with different types of femoral head

Abstract

We examined stainless-steel, cobalt-chrome, titanium and alumina and zirconia ceramic femoral heads retrieved at revision surgery. All the heads had articulated against ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE) acetabular cups. We studied the simulation of third-body damage and the wear of UHMWPE against the various materials used for the heads. The surfaces of the retrieved heads were analysed using a two-dimensional contacting profilometer. Third-body damage was characterised by the mean height of the scratches above the mean line (Rpm). The alumina ceramic and zirconia ceramic retrieved heads were found to have significantly less damage. In laboratory studies the ceramics were also more resistant to simulated third-body damage than the metal alloys. We studied the wear of UHMWPE against the damaged counterfaces in simple configuration tests. The damaged ceramics produced less polyethylene wear than the damaged metal counterfaces. The wear factor of UHMWPE against the damaged materials was dependent on the amount of damage to the counterface (Rp). Our study has shown the benefit of using the harder and more damage-resistant ceramic materials for femoral heads.

The current state of bearing surfaces in total hip replacement

“…12 It is difficult to draw conclusions about the true behaviour of XLPE in adverse conditions, but it may be sensible to use ceramic heads with XLPE because of their greater scratch resistance. 44 In vivo, joint laxity can allow the separation of the bearing surfaces during swing phase, with concentric relocation on heel strike. This microseparation is usually only a few millimetres, but can result in an abnormal contact of the head with the rim of the acetabular bearing surface at heel strike, resulting in edge loading.…”

Wear of Biopolymers under Reciprocating Sliding Conditions against Different Counterfaces

“…Therefore, the roughness of the counterface is an important factor in the wear of biopolymers in the in vivo and in vitro analysis of the implants. It is also reported from simulator studies that two‐body abrasion is much more severe than the third‐body abrasion of circulating debris . In particular, the presence of hard third‐body particles can accelerate PE wear.…”

Surface Texturing of Vitamin E Blended UHMWPE for Reduction of Wear

“…But wear of UHMWPE is still most restrictive factor for implant service life. The wear debris of UHMWPE induces adverse tissue reactions, aseptic loosening and implant lost [3]. For enhancement of wear resistance, new generation of UHMWPE materials have been developed.…”