Due to increased life expectancy of human population, the amount of total knee replacements (TKR) is expected to increase. TKR reached a high grade of quality and safety, but most often it fail because of aseptic implant loosening caused by polyethylene (PE) wear debris. Wear is generated at the articulating surfaces, e.g. caused by three body particles, like bone fragments or bone cement particles. The aim of this experimental study was to compare the wear of tibial PE inserts combined with metallic and ceramic femoral components at three body wear situation induced by polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and zirconia (ZrO2) particles from the bone cement.

Wear testing was performed for 5 Mio load cycles, using tibial standard PE inserts combined with the same CR femoral component, in two different materials, Cobalt Chromium (CoCrMo) and Biolox delta ® ceramic (Multigen Plus Knee System, Lima Corporate, Italy). A knee wear simulator, according to ISO 14243 (EndoLab GmbH, Rosenheim, Germany), was used to carry out the tests. The tests were performed in temperature-controlled test chambers at 37 °C, containing calf serum with a protein content of 30 g/l. Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and zirconia (ZrO2) bone cement particles (Palacos R ®) were manufactured to a size of 30 μm. The three body particles were added at all stations onto the articulating surface of the tibial PE insert (7mg per condyle) at every 500,000 cycles. Wear was determined gravimetrically and the surfaces of tibial inserts were analysed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) after finishing the 5 million cycles. Furthermore, roughness of the PE insert surfaces and the articulating surfaces of the different femoral components were detected and the PE wear particles were analysed by SEM.

The average gravimetrical wear rates of the tibial PE inserts in combination with CoCr and Biolox delta ® ceramic femoral components amounted to 6.4 ± 0.9 mg and 2.6 ± 0.4 mg per million cycles, respectively. Beside bone cement particles on the articulating surface of the PE inserts, polished surfaces and scratches were detected by SEM. In comparison to the untreated surfaces of the PE inserts at both material pairings the surface roughness at the articulating areas showed deep scratches and polished regions. Analyses of the metallic femoral components showed scratches at the articulating surfaces, none on ceramics.

The present study pointed out the effect of femoral component material in an abrasive three body wear situation on the wear properties of TKR. The wear simulator tests showed that wear of PE inserts under three body wear conditions, in combination with ceramic femoral components, was significantly lower than with metallic femoral components. With regard to anti-allergic properties, ceramic femoral components are promising products for TKR.