WEAR CHARACTERIZATION OF CLINICALLY USED HIP JOINT PROSTHESES BY A HIP SIMULATOR

摘要

Wear characterization of clinically used hip joint prostheses is conducted by a HIP simulator. Bovine serum solution is used for lubricant, and the tests are conducted until 5 X 10~6 cycles. At first, the effect of testing conditions on the wear of hip joint prostheses is examined in order to determine the optimum condition of hip simulator tests. As the results, it is clarified that serum concentration in lubricant and intervals of lubricant replacement highly affect the wear of UHMWPE. Formation of protein film and increase of initial wear must be the origin, respectively. By using the determined conditions, long-term simulator tests are conducted against six types of commercial hip joint prostheses. The results clearly exhibit the difference of wear in each combination. These data are expected to be applied as the reference data on developing new type of hip joint prostheses.