Wear Testing of Biomaterials

A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2016) | Viewed by 20263

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering, Newcastle University, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: biotribology; wear; biomaterials; explant analysis; orthopaedics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

From the PTFE employed in the first Charnley hips through to the recent debacle of metal-on-metal hips, wear has been, and continues to be, a key factor in the success of total joint replacements. Historically we have also seen ‘low wear’ coatings which have proved to be anything but, and ‘wear resistant’ materials which have shown to be the opposite when implanted in vivo. Therefore, appropriate pre-clinical wear testing has been of vital concern to many bioengineers and material scientists. Of course, the key word here is ‘appropriate’. By the efforts of many dedicated scientists we now know that, to take the example of screening wear tests for orthopaedic biomaterials, the application of multi-directional motion to test specimens as well as the use of protein-containing lubricant are vital factors to be able to replicate clinical wear rates. The issue of wear testing of biomaterials demands input from many areas but the long-term goal remains that of providing longer lasting artificial joints for the millions of people who will require them. This special issue invites papers describing the latest developments in this exciting and vital field of biotribology to contribute to our understanding of wear testing of biomaterials.

Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Joyce
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • wear
  • biotribology
  • friction
  • lubrication
  • coatings
  • lubricant
  • UHMWPE
  • CoCr
  • XLPE
  • simulator

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

3549 KiB  
Article
Potential Synthetic Biolubricant as an Alternative to Bovine Serum
by Susan C. Scholes, Coral J. Colledge, Andrew Naylor, Mohammed H. Mahdi, Alan M. Smith and Thomas J. Joyce
Lubricants 2016, 4(4), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants4040038 - 18 Nov 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5747
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, [...] Read more.
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 mm3/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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wear Testing of Biomaterials)
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7770 KiB  
Article
Silicon Nitride Bearings for Total Joint Arthroplasty
by Bryan J. McEntire, Ramaswamy Lakshminarayanan, Darin A. Ray, Ian C. Clarke, Leonardo Puppulin and Giuseppe Pezzotti
Lubricants 2016, 4(4), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants4040035 - 18 Oct 2016
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6493
Abstract
The articulation performance of silicon nitride against conventional and highly cross-linked polyethylene, as well as for self-mated silicon nitride bearings, was examined in a series of standard hip simulation studies. Wear rates for polyethylene liners against silicon nitride femoral heads were consistent with [...] Read more.
The articulation performance of silicon nitride against conventional and highly cross-linked polyethylene, as well as for self-mated silicon nitride bearings, was examined in a series of standard hip simulation studies. Wear rates for polyethylene liners against silicon nitride femoral heads were consistent with reported literature, although higher than cobalt chromium controls. Excessive protein precipitation was a confounding factor in interpretation of the wear data. Post wear-test Raman spectroscopy of the cross-linked polyethylene liners showed no oxidative degradation. Wear of self-mated silicon nitride was found to be essentially zero and indistinguishable from alumina controls using continuously orbital hip simulation for up to three million cycles. However, introduction of an alternative loading profile from three to five million cycles, including a stop-dwell-start sequence, significantly increased wear for two of six silicon nitride couples. This behavior is associated with formation and disruption of a gelatinous silicic acid tribochemical film, and is consistent with a recurrent transition from fluid-film to boundary lubrication. Overall, these results suggest that silicon nitride articulation against dissimilar counterface surfaces (e.g., highly cross-linked polyethylene) is preferred. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wear Testing of Biomaterials)
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1177 KiB  
Article
A Tribological Assessment of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Types GUR 1020 and GUR 1050 for Orthopedic Applications
by Benjamin J. Hunt and Thomas J. Joyce
Lubricants 2016, 4(3), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants4030025 - 30 Jun 2016
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 7406
Abstract
The wear properties of biomaterials have been demonstrated to have a high importance within orthopedic bearing surfaces. This study performed a comparison of the wear between the two main grades of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene types GUR 1020 and GUR 1050 articulating [...] Read more.
The wear properties of biomaterials have been demonstrated to have a high importance within orthopedic bearing surfaces. This study performed a comparison of the wear between the two main grades of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene types GUR 1020 and GUR 1050 articulating against Cobalt Chromium. Such a high capacity wear comparison has not been reported elsewhere in the scientific literature. Under an identical testing protocol it was found that GUR 1020 had a wear factor of 3.92 ± 0.55 × 10 6 ( mm 3 / Nm ) and GUR 1050 had a wear factor of 3.64 ± 0.39 × 10 6 ( mm 3 / Nm ) , with a non-statistical significant difference of p = 0.052. These wear factors correlate closely with those observed from other screening wear studies and explant analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wear Testing of Biomaterials)
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