A new concept of an electrostimulative acetabular revision system with patient individual additional fixation

Abstract

The present study forms the basis in the development of a new acetabular revision system capable of providing improved primary fixation as well as postoperative electro-stimulation of the adjacent bone stock. The development is aimed at the treatment of patient individual situations achieving enhanced fixation of the acetabular cup by additional polyaxial and angular stable fixation pegs as well as a modular adaptable lateral flap. Electrostimulation of the bone was realized by the senior author in form of the BISS system indicated for fracture healing and treatment of avascular necrosis of the femoral head. In the present research work a new concept was developed to introduce electrostimulation of the bone in the reconstruction of defects in case of acetabular cup revision. Thereby, the secondary coils, which are the source for generation of the electric field in the surrounding bone stock, are placed inside the fixation pegs of the revision cup. The external oscillating magnetic field needed for energy transfer into the human body is generated by a primary coil placed around the patient's hip. We conducted preclinical examinations of the acetabular revision system with regard to the safety of the angular stable locking mechanism of the fixation pegs. In addition, the concept of integrating electro-stimulation into the fixation pegs is demonstrated. In conclusion, a promising concept to satisfy the needs for sufficient primary implant stability and secondary periprosthetic bone regeneration is presented. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.