Isolation and morphological characterisation of UHMWPE wear debris generated in vitro

Wear tests are generally carried out on materials used in prosthetic hip implants, in order to obtain a better understanding of the tribological processes involved and improve the quality control of joint prostheses, directed towards reducing the risk of implant failure of innovative prostheses. Ceramic femoral heads of mixed alumina–zirconia oxides as well as zirconia and alumina single oxide heads were tested against UHMWPE acetabular cups in a hip joint simulator. Polyethylene cups and ceramic femoral heads were mounted in a simulator apparatus moving according to a sinusoidal function, under load and in the presence of bovine calf serum as lubricant. Wear particles were isolated from the bovine calf serum collected during the wear tests. An easy to follow method was used to separate the wear particles from the lubricant. Chemical digestive methods were used to separate the wear particles from the lubricant and the isolated particles were studied using scanning electron microscopy. The morphologies of the polyethylene debris showed considerable differences, both in size and shape of the particles, as a function of the coupled head material.