Scratch and wear performance of prosthetic femoral head components against crosslinked UHMWPE sockets

Total hip arthroplasty is a highly successful procedure where the hip joint is replaced by an artificial ball and socket joint. Bearing wear continues to be a contributing factor to implant failure. Prosthetic femoral heads roughen in vivo which leads to increased wear. Along with the introduction of improved polyethylene which reduces wear by up to 99%, improved femoral head materials have been introduced to improve resistance to abrasion. The abrasion resistance of two of these improved femoral heads was assessed in this study and compared to a cobalt chromium (CoCr) femoral head. The resulting wear performance against a polyethylene acetabular component was assessed. The bulk ceramic (zirconia toughened alumina) femoral head exhibited superior abrasion resistance compared to CoCr (97% reduction in damage) as well as reduced wear after abrasion (97% reduction in wear). The oxide coated zirconium niobium femoral head showed inferior abrasion resistance compared to CoCr (99% increase in damage) as well as increased wear after abrasion (161% increase in wear). Both femoral head surfaces utilize hard ceramic materials, however, the thin ceramic coating on top of a softer metallic substrate of the oxide coated bearing was unable to withstand aggressive abrasion.