Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug;38(8):1719-1726.
doi: 10.1002/jor.24610. Epub 2020 Mar 2.

Hemiarthroplasty implants should have very low stiffness to optimize cartilage contact stress

Affiliations
Free article

Hemiarthroplasty implants should have very low stiffness to optimize cartilage contact stress

Carolyn Berkmortel et al. J Orthop Res. 2020 Aug.
Free article

Abstract

Hemiarthroplasty is often preferred to total arthroplasty as it preserves native tissue; however, accelerated wear of the opposing cartilage is problematic. This is thought to be caused by the stiffness mismatch between the implant and cartilage-bone construct. Reducing the stiffness of the implant by changing the material has been hypothesized as a potential solution. This study employs a finite element model to study a concave-convex hemiarthroplasty articulation for various implant materials (cobalt-chrome, pyrolytic carbon, polyether ether ketone, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, Bionate-55D, Bionate-75D, and Bionate-80A). The effect of the radius of curvature and the degree of flexion-extension was also investigated to ensure any relationships found between materials were generalizable. The implant material had a significant effect (P < .001) for both contact area and maximum contact pressure on the cartilage surface. All of the materials were different from the native state except for Bionate-80A at two of the different flexion angles. Bionate-80A and Bionate-75D, the materials with the lowest stiffnesses, were the closest to the native state for all flexion angles and radii of curvature. No evident difference between materials occurred unless the modulus was below that of Bionate-55D (288 MPa), suggesting that hemiarthroplasty materials need to be less stiff than this material if they are to protect the opposing cartilage. This is clinically significant as the findings suggest that the development of new hemiarthroplasty implants should use materials with stiffnesses much lower than currently available devices.

Keywords: contact stress; finite element analysis; hemiarthroplasty; implant; stiffness.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Schwartz CJ, Bahadur S. Investigation of articular cartilage and counterface compliance in multi-directional sliding as in orthopedic implants. Wear. 2007;262:1315-1320.
    1. Dalldorf PG, Banas MP, Hicks DG, Pellegrini VD. Rate of degeneration of human acetabular cartilage after hemiarthroplasty. J Bone Jt Surg. 1995;77:877-882.
    1. Cook S, Thomas K, Kester M. Wear characteristics of the canine acetabulum against different femoral protheses. J Bone Jt Surg. 1989;71(2):189-197.
    1. Ko FC, Dragomir C, Plumb DA, et al. In vivo cyclic compression causes cartilage degeneration and subchondral bone changes in mouse tibiae. Arthritis Rheum. 2013;65:1569-1578.
    1. Heijink A, Kodde IF, Mulder PGH, et al. Radial head arthroplasty: a systematic review. J Bone Jt Surg. 2016;4:314-321.

Publication types

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources