New Methodology for Comparative Evaluation of the Abrasive Properties of Orthopedic Cables, Cut-Out Reciprocal Testing (CORT)

摘要

This work proposes a new testing methodology and an original testing bench to evaluate and compare the abrasive properties of orthopedic cables used in the surgical treatment of orthopedic disorders. This bench generates the cut-out reciprocal movement of a bone surrogate or biological bone specimen against a cable and it serves to evaluate the bone abrasion kinetics and the loss in cable tension when it cuts through bone. To validate the proposed methodology, a cut-out reciprocal testing study was performed using a conventional titanium orthopedic cable on both polyurethane foam bone surrogates and porcine vertebrae specimens. It was observed that the cutting rate and consequently the loss in cable tension were much lower for the porcine specimen than that observed for the bone surrogate given higher hardness of cortical bone compared to polyurethane. The methodology developed allows therefore comparative studies on the abrasiveness and on the ability to maintain the applied tension of orthopedic cables to be conducted.