Effect of contact condition on film thickness formation in artificial joints

Abstract

Total hip replacement is the most effective method for treating severe degenerative, post-traumatic and other diseases of the hip joint. Nevertheless wear of artificial implants remains a serious health issue especially for metal-on-metal hip components where the formation of metallic wear debris has been linked to adverse tissue necrosis and increased of metal ions in the blood. Wear in MOM joints is essentially dependent on interfacial lubrication processes, which are subjected to the complex research work at the present time. The aim of this study is to analyze formation of lubrication film and experimental mapping of the lubricating film thickness of bovine serum within the contact between an artificial metal or ceramic femoral head and a glass disc and analyze effect of proteins on the film formation under rolling/sliding conditions. The film thickness was studied experimentally using film colorimetric interferometry. This study showed that protein formation plays an important role in the lubrication processes of artificial joints of the human. Due to challenging of this study the more complex research work is carried out at the present time. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.