Wear Simulation of Ceramic-on-Crosslinked Polyethylene Hip Prostheses: A New Non-Oxide Silicon Nitride versus the Gold Standard Composite Oxide Ceramic Femoral Heads

Updates on Biomaterials Used in Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA)

One of the most popular and effective orthopedic surgical interventions for treating a variety of hip diseases is total hip arthroplasty. Despite being a radical procedure that involves replacing bone and cartilaginous surfaces with biomaterials, it produces excellent outcomes that significantly increase the patient's quality of life. Patient factors and surgical technique, as well as biomaterials, play a role in prosthetic survival, with aseptic loosening (one of the most common causes of total hip arthroplasty failure) being linked to the quality of biomaterials utilized. Over the years, various biomaterials have been developed to limit the amount of wear particles generated over time by friction between the prosthetic head (metal alloys or ceramic) and the insert fixed in the acetabular component (polyethylene or ceramic). An ideal biomaterial must be biocompatible, have a low coefficient of friction, be corrosion resistant, and have great mechanical power. Comprehensive knowledge regarding what causes hip arthroplasty failure, as well as improvements in biomaterial quality and surgical technique, will influence the survivability of the prosthetic implant. The purpose of this article was to assess the benefits and drawbacks of various biomaterial and friction couples used in total hip arthroplasties by reviewing the scientific literature published over the last 10 years.

In vitro & in vivo investigation of the silicon nitride ceramic hip implant’s safety and effectiveness evaluation

Background

With regard to the ceramic hip joint implant, given the concerns in ceramic about the alumina brittleness and zirconia instability, is there any alternative material solution for the orthopedic implant? Beyond the metastable oxide ceramics, along the echelon of advanced technical ceramics, looking at the non-oxide ceramic, the silicon nitride could be an excellent candidate for the joint implant’s application. The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety, effectiveness and to demonstrate the potential of this silicon nitride hip implant.

Methods

According to the related ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards, a series of in vitro (nine) & in vivo (five) tests, which had been accomplished for the aforementioned aim. Especially, the total hip replacement in pigs had been achieved, as per the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time to apply the THA (Total Hip Arthroplasty) in the big animal.

Results

Refer to the ISO 6474-2, in comparison with the current monopolized German product, this silicon nitride ceramic hip implant has high strength, high hardness, excellent fracture toughness, lower density, better wear resistance, good biocompatibility, inherent stability, corrosion resistance and bioactivity, bone integration capability.

Conclusions

This silicon nitride ceramic will be an admirable alternative solution with superior comprehensive property that can withstand the toughest conditions in the most demanding applications like in orthopedic and beyond.

A review of advances in tribology in 2020–2021

Around 1,000 peer-reviewed papers were selected from 3,450 articles published during 2020–2021, and reviewed as the representative advances in tribology research worldwide. The survey highlights the development in lubrication, wear and surface engineering, biotribology, high temperature tribology, and computational tribology, providing a show window of the achievements of recent fundamental and application researches in the field of tribology.

Updates in biomaterials of bearing surfaces in total hip arthroplasty

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the most successful surgical procedures. It entails replacement of the damaged or diseased joint surface with artificial materials. Various materials had been developed and used to achieve optimal outcomes, including longer survivorship and minimal complications. The primary materials used in the manufacture of THA implants are polymers, metal alloys, and ceramics. The failures of THA mainly result from aseptic loosening due to the production of wear particles and the development of periprosthetic joint injection. A lot of advancement and introduction of new biomaterials in THA implants’ armamentarium are designed to avoid the common failure mechanisms and improve the longevity of the implants. In this review, we discussed various aspects of commonly used biomaterials in THA implants, to provide some updated information.