Fabrication and testing of silicon nitride bearings in total hip arthroplasty: winner of the 2007 "HAP" PAUL Award.
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) bearings were fabricated from silicon nitride (Si(3)N(4)) powder. Mechanical testing showed that Si(3)N(4) had improved fracture toughness and fracture strength over modern alumina (Al(2)O(3)) ceramic. When tested with Si(3)N(4) cups in a hip simulator, both cobalt-chromium (CoCr) and Si(3)N(4) femoral heads produced low wear rates that were comparable to Al(2)O(3)-Al(2)O(3) bearings in THA. This study offers experimental support for a novel metal-ceramic THA bearing couple that combines the reliability of CoCr femoral heads with the wear advantages of ceramic surfaces.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
B Sonny
BS
Bal
Ashok
A
Khandkar
R
R
Lakshminarayanan
Ian
I
Clarke
Aaron A
AA
Hoffman
Mohamed N
MN
Rahaman
D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001363:Awards and Prizes; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002858:Chromium Alloys; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D017655:Silicon Compounds
D002858:Chromium Alloys; D017655:Silicon Compounds; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; C032734:silicon nitride