Tribological characteristics of hip joint endoprostheses

Abstract

We have studied the friction pairs for a head–insert kinematic node of human hip endoprostheses and rabbit hip endoprostheses, both normal (intact) and with an osteoarthritis model, in conditions of dry friction and lubrication with biological medium. We have discovered that the rabbit hip with an osteoarthritis model exhibits deterioration of tribological characteristics. From the tribological point of view, the most suitable friction pairs for human hip endoprostheses are zirconium ceramics–aluminum ceramics, Oxinium–aluminum ceramics, aluminum ceramics–aluminum ceramics, and aluminum ceramics–polyethylene, which have shown the smallest coefficient of friction, the lowest adhesion bond strength when sheared, and minimal dependence of these parameters on the value of external load.