Abstract
Researchers have reported that there are some correlations between the morphological aspects of wear debris generated from an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) in an artificial joint and the biological response induced by the debris. The wear particles stimulate macrophages, and production of inflammatory cytokine may induce osteolysis, that leads to joint loosening. It was reported that the production of inflammatory cytokine was influenced by the particle size, where the size less than 1.0 mm seemed to be important. A nano-scale textured surface on a Co-28Cr-6Mo alloy, as a counter face material of UHMWPE, is proposed in this study in order to control the volume of wear and the morphological aspect of UHMWPE. The textured surface could reduce the total amount of UHMWPE wear and the size distribution of wear debris, where the particle size was getting larger. The wear particles produced by the textured surface reduced the production of inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in culture supernatant. These results suggested that a prolongation of service life in artificial joint would be possible by the modification of surface profile at nano-scale.
