Observation of Wear Surface of Artificial Hip Joint Subjected to Hip Simulator Test

Abstract

Commercial artificial hip joints with different combinations of head and cup were subjected to assessments in a hip simulator. In the combination of Y-TZP head and UHMWPE cup, it was found that the head received almost no wear, while the cup received fine wear tracks. In the combination of Co-Cr head and UHMWPE cup, the wear was to found to progress severely both on the head and cup, during which metal ions were released from the head surface. In the combination of Y-TZP head and C-UHMWPE cup, the cup surface received fine wear tracks. In the combination of Al2O3 head and Al2O3 cup, the wear was found to progress almost none both on the head and cup surfaces.