Mechanical testing standards of orthopedic implants

Abstract

The orthopedic implants are widely used in spinal, trauma, and arthroplasty surgeries. The mechanical tests for orthopedic implants are performed in accordance with ASTM and ISO standards to determine the lifetime of an implant and the load-bearing capacities. An implant which will be used in the orthopedic surgeries must provide some critical requirements specified by these standards. The mechanical tests for the implants are performed under two main loading conditions which are the static and dynamic loading. The load-bearing capacities of the implant are obtained using the static loading procedure. Furthermore, the lifetime of the implants is evaluated by using the dynamic loading procedure. This chapter aims to evaluate the mechanical testing procedures of the orthopedic implants. The orthopedic implants are categorized with regard to for what purpose they are used. For each orthopedic implant, the test procedures and the test setups are introduced. The critical requirements and interpretation of the results are determined.