Total knee arthroplasty with a rotating hinge knee with carbon-fibre-reinforced (CFR)-PEEK as an alternative bushing material with enhanced creep, wear and fatigue behaviour has been clinically established [1-4]. The objective of our study was to compare results from in vitro biotribological characterisation to ex vivo findings on a retrievals. A modified in vitro wear simulation based on ISO 14243-1 was performed for 5 million cycles on rotating hinge knee (RHK) designs (EnduRo®) out of cobalt-chromium and ZrN-multilayer ceramic coating. The rotational & flexion axles-bushings and the flanges are made of CFR-PEEK with 30% polyacrylonitrile fibre content. Analysis of 12 retrieved EnduRo® RHK systems in cobalt-chromium and ZrN-multilayer in regard to loosening torques, microscopic surface analysis, distinction between different wear modes and classification with a modified HOOD-score has been performed. For the RHK design with the polyethylene gliding surface and bushings and flanges made out of CFR-PEEK, a cumulative volumetric wear was measured to be 12.9±3.95 mm3 in articulation to cobalt-chromium and 1.3±0.21 mm3 to ZrN-multilayer coating - a significant 9.9-fold decrease (p=0.0072). For the CFR-PEEK flexion bushing and flanges the volumetric wear rates were 2.3±0.48 mm3/million cycles (cobalt-chromium) and 0.21±0.02 mm3/million cycles (ZrN-multilayer) (p=0.0016). The 5 million cycles of in vitro wear testing reflect a mean in vivo service life of 2.9 years, which is in accordance to the time in vivo of 12–60 months of the retrieved RHK components [5]. The main wear modes were comparable between retrievals and in vitro specimens, whereby the size of affected area on the retrieved components showed a higher variation. For the EnduRo® RHK design the findings on retrieved implants demonstrate the high suitability of CFR-PEEK as a biomaterial for highly loaded bearings, such as RHK bushings and flanges in articulation to cobalt-chromium and to a ZrN-multilayer coating.
Primary stability is an important factor for long-term implant survival in total hip arthroplasty. In revision surgery, implant fixation becomes especially challenging due the acetabular bone defects, which are often present. Previous studies on primary stability of revision components often applied simplified geometrical defect shapes in a variety of sizes and locations. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a realistic defect model in terms of defect volume and shape based on a clinically existing acetabular bone defect, (2) develop a surrogate acetabular test model, and (3) exemplarily apply the developed approach by testing the primary stability of a pressfit-cup with and without bone graft substitute (BGS). Based on clinical computed tomography data and a method previously published [1], volume and shape information of a representative defect, chosen in consultation with four senior hip revision surgeons, was derived. Volume and shape of the representative defect was approximated by nine reaming procedures with hemispherical acetabular reamers, resulting in a simplified defect with comparable volume (18.9 ml original vs. 18.8 ml simplified) and shape. From this simplified defect (Introduction
Materials & Methods
Revision total hip arthroplasty is often associated with acetabular bone defects. In most cases, assessment of such defects is still qualitative and biased by subjective interpretations. Three-dimensional imaging techniques and novel anatomical reconstructions using statistical shape models (SSM) allow a more impartial and quantitative assessment of acetabular bone defects [1]. The objectives of this study are to define five clinically relevant parameters and to assess 50 acetabular bone defects in a quantitative way. Anonymized CT-data of 50 hemi-pelvises with acetabular bone defects were included in the study. The assessment was based on solid models of the defect pelvis (i.e. pelvis with bone defect) and its anatomical reconstruction (i.e. native pelvis without bone defect) (Fig.1A). Five clinically relevant parameters were defined: (1) Bone loss, defined by subtracting defect pelvis from native pelvis. (2) Bone formation, defined by subtracting native pelvis from defect pelvis. Bone formation represents bone structures, which were not present in the native pelvis (e.g. caused by remodeling processes around a migrated implant). (3) Ovality, defined by the length to width ratio of an ellipse fitted in the defect acetabulum. A ratio of 1.0 would represent a circular acetabulum. (4) Lateral center-edge angle (LCE angle), defined by the angle between the most lateral edge of the cranial roof and the body Z-axis, and (5) implant migration, defined by the distance between center of rotation (CoR) of the existing implant and CoR of native pelvis (Fig. 1B).Introduction
Methods
