Comparative Wear Tests of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene and Cross-Linked Polyethylene

摘要

The most commonly implanted orthopedic biopolymer is ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) [1]. Although it is a low wear material, such is the sensitivity of the human body to any foreign particles within it, that UHMWPE wear particles can provoke a negative cascade of responses which can lead to osteolysis and the need for a revision operation [2]. Therefore more wear resistant materials have been sought, one of the most important of which is cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). While this material has been used clinically there are relatively few reports of in vitro wear testing of the material and fewer still which have tested UHMWPE and XLPE using the same, clinically-validated wear test device.