Backside wear in acetabular hip joint replacement

Quantitative Measurements of Backside Wear in Acetabular Hip Joint Replacement: Conventional Polyethylene Versus Cross-Linked Polyethylene

“…Figure 3 shows the mean and standard deviations of the PE backside wear in a direct comparison between the use of CPE and XLPE in the investigated cup system. The results of the CPE backside wear with the parameters ETN, ECD, AR and R were partially published in a previous study [9]. In addition, the amounts of different particle shapes and the median (max and min) are shown in Figure 3.…”

“…The method used for the quantitative measurement of PE backside wear has been validated and described in detail [9].…”

“…For this analysis, the test fluid was vacuum filtered (pore size: 0.02 µm) and the filters were examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM Leo 1530, Carl Zeiss AG, Oberkochen, Figure 1. Test setup according to the two-chamber principle: (1) load axis, (2) artificial femoral head, (3) backside wear particle, (4) articulation area, (5) cup system, (6) PE insert, (7) backside area [9].…”

“…The particle shapes were characterized as round, oval and fibril-like according to their AR [17]. In addition, the number of analyzed particles was extrapolated to obtain a total number of particles (ETN) as a measure of PE wear [9].…”

“…Established and internationally standardized examination methods are frequently used to evaluate the articular wear resistance of joint replacements. In addition, a new investigation method enables the isolated quantitative measurement of polyethylene (PE) backside wear in modular acetabular cups [9]. While the resistance to articular wear processes of XLPE has already been demonstrated in many experimental [1,[10][11][12][13] and clinical studies [3,14,15], no quantitative evidence exists about the supposed wear advantage of XLPE in terms of backside wear.…”