Advancement in biotechnology has successfully converted the conventional bearing couples into artificial joints. Materials used today, however, have not been satisfactory. Problems such as osteolysis and aseptic loosening lead to failure of artificial joints and also the lifespan of these joints is to be further improved. This research targets two issues related to the problem: coatings and design of new generation biofluids. Superior to metals and polymers, ceramics are hard and biocompatible and exhibit low wear and friction. The ceramic-on-ceramic bearing pair could last for a long time which could be beneficial to younger and active patients who need a bearing pair which would last for more than 15 years to avoid the possibility of a revision surgery. The first part of this thesis deals with studying the microstructure-property relationship of new ceramic-based materials and coatings. Specifically, alumina (ceramic) coatings at different current intensities were tested in order to determine their feasibility as a biomaterial for artificial joints. In order to find a new avenue for developing biofluids, the second part of this thesis focuses on the failure of artificial joints under inadequate lubrication. Also due to osteoarthritis, synthetic biofluid is injected into joints to help relieve pain but it works for only 6-9 months. We propose a new method using noble gold nanoparticles to modify fluids. This was accomplished by mixing different concentration of nanoparticles with biofluid. This thesis consists of 6 sections. The first section is an introduction to tribology, biotribology and artificial joints which is followed by the second section which discusses the objectives of the research. The third section describes the materials and methods used in the research. The tribological characterization of MAO alumina coatings is discussed in the fourth section and the fifth section discusses the effect of nanoparticles on fluid lubrication. The last section is the conclusion.

In our aging population, arthritis is becoming an increasingly common problem. Pain, loss of joint function and other negative affects make arthritis a major health problem. The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, is caused by the "wear and tear" of articular cartilage on the surface of bones in synovial joints. It is a chronic problem that is slowed with different types of therapies, including pharmaceutical, nutritional and surgical, but to date the wearing down of the cartilage cannot be stopped or reversed. Normal, mature, articular cartilage does not spontaneously repair itself after an injury. In light of this, several surgical techniques are being developed to repair degenerate and/or osteoarthritic cartilage. One such approach uses Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI). Dr. Mats Brittberg, and associates at Goteborg University in Sweden began using this cartilage repair procedure in 1987. Other techniques attempt to stimulate the subchondral bone to generate cartilage, such as Abrasion Arthroplasty. Still others use tissue grafts to attempt to repair lesions in cartilage. The surface biomechanics of these repaired tissues have not yet been studied. How well does the repaired cartilage resist wear? How long will it last? How does the repaired cartilage compare to "normal" cartilage in terms of wear-resistance? It is the goal of this research to gain initial knowledge to help answer these questions. Dr. Brittberg has provided 17 sample of cartilage, from 9 Swedish patients, including repaired and normal pairs using the aforementioned repair techniques and others, as well as a degenerate and normal cartilage pair. The intention of this paper is to report the findings of experiments performed using these samples, and compare the wear-resistance of repaired and degenerate cartilage to that of normal cartilage. Wear and friction tests were carried out on 2 mm diameter specimens using a biotribology device and a new, modified technique developed specifically for these small samples. The cartilage samples were mounted, using specially designed adapters, in our biotribology device for oscillating contact against polished stainless steel disks at a constant applied normal load, oscillating frequency, and test time. A buffered saline solution was used as the lubricant. Cartilage wear was determined from hydroxyproline analysis of the test fluid and washings from the wear test. Thin layers of transferred cartilage-like films to the stainless steel disks were also analyzed. Also, friction data was recorded throughout the tests. The results of these experiments show that: 1) For the two pairs of ACI repaired cartilage, the repaired cartilage gave substantially less wear than that of normal cartilage. 2) For all other repair techniques tested, the repaired cartilage produced more wear than normal cartilage. 3) The single osteoarthritic cartilage tested produced similar wear to that of normal cartilage. This is surprising since the current thought is osteoarthritic cartilage is more susceptible to wear. 4) The hydroxyproline concentration, by weight, of cartilage increases after the wear test. 5) Friction levels were in the boundary lubrication regime, and had no correlation with the amount of wear. To our knowledge, this research represents the first controlled "in vitro" study of an important unknown in cartilage repair, i.e., the wear-resistance of the repaired cartilage. It shows that ACI produces a cartilage with very good wear-resistance, better than that of other repair techniques, and possibly better than normal, healthy cartilage. ACI and its applications to the treatment of degenerate and osteoarthritic joints are promising, and studies will continue to investigate this and other types of cartilage repair. / Master of Science

Synovial joints, like the hip joint, has unique characteristics. In order to study these characteristics by making use of mathematical techniques, it is necessary to develop a model simulating the dynamic forces and joint movements during joint operation. Once this is available, the effect of the synovial fluid lubricant properties can be added by describing its behaviour as a component of the hip joint simulation model. This was the ultimate aim of this research effort. With this work a model based on fundamental principles, like the equations of mass and motion, was developed and validated experimentally with a hip joint simulator. It is also shown that the effect of the lubricant properties can be studied by adding the relevant rheological equations. These fluid properties can have a significant effect on the joint under typical joint operations like dynamic loading and movement. To develop a model with relative complexity, certain simplifying assumptions have to be made. In this study, the fluid was assumed to have no boundary interactions with the articulating surfaces. It is known that complex rheological interaction exists in these systems. Although certain assumptions were made during development, model results are promising and a firm basis was established for subsequent research. In future, the model needs to be extended to simulate the continuous, multi-cycle operation of a human joint, with accurate geometrical descriptions of articulating surfaces and known components of synovial joints like articular cartilage. The model could then contain lubrication mechanisms known to prevail in synovial joints, with accurate rheological models of synovial fluid which will play an increasing role under typical joint operations. / Dissertation (MEng (Chemical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

This thesis deals with the study of the effect of the constituents of the model synovial fluid on the frictional properties of articular cartilage. The influence of constituents, concentration, speed and load is observed. Experiments were performed on a commercial tribometer at configuration pin-on-plate. Several types of lubricants containing synovial fluid constituents have been selected for the experiments. Lubricants were prepared at two concentrations, the concentration of healthy individuals and at a concentration typical of for osteoarthritic patients. Speeds 5 and 10 mm/s and 5 and 10 N loads were used for all experiments. It is shown that when using only lubricant containing proteins, no difference in the coefficient of friction is observed and the effect of concentration is also not observed. The addition of hyaluronic acid has a synergistic effect with -globulin, however in the case of lubricants containing albumin, the effect is opposite. After the addition of phospholipids, no significant effect on friction is observed in -globulin containing lubricants. No significant effect of the composition and concentration of the lubricants is observed with the load change.

Mechanical properties of articular cartilage, including stiffness, biolubrication, and wear-resistance, undergo deterioration during progression of diseases such as osteoarthritis. When the tissue becomes softened and wear-prone, resulting from biochemical alterations within the cartilage matrix, osteoarthritis patients experience painful joint degeneration and erosion of the bone-protective cartilage. Moreover, the synovial fluid bathing the cartilage also experiences a reduction in lubricating capacity as osteoarthritis advances, further hastening wear. An existing treatment paradigm known as viscosupplementation, designed to restore a viscous and lubricating nature to the synovial fluid, involves intraarticular injection of hyaluronic acid into affected joints. While this technique relieves pain for some individuals, the majority of patients experience neither pain relief nor protection of the cartilage from further damage. To address the unmet need of patients requiring chondroprotective thera-pies, this dissertation describes two potential intraarticular strategies based on the application of polymer chemistry principles to bodily tissues and interfaces. One strategy involves the synthesis of a non-hyaluronic-acid synovial fluid sup-plement, based on a phosphorylcholine-containing polyacrylate network, de-signed to functionally mimic the lubricity of the glycoprotein lubricin, phospho-lipid macromolecular assemblies, and high molecular weight hyaluronic acid. The second strategy involves the in situ photopolymerization of a related polyacrylate within cartilage bulk tissue to strengthen, prevent wear, and in-crease the proportion of compressive load supported by the tissue’s interstitial fluid rather than solid matrix. In this strategy, the branched polymer network functionally mimics the glycosaminoglycans that are found in healthy cartilage but depleted in osteoarthritic cartilage. For both potential therapies, chemical and physical properties of the respective fluid and tissue are analyzed, and ex vivo cartilage mechanical testing involving axial and shear deformation reveal the biotribological and compressive reinforcement conferred by the zwitterionic polymer. The synovial fluid supplement significantly decreases cartilage friction through a variety of lubrication mechanisms depending upon tissue fluid flow state and articulation conditions, and the cartilage-reinforcing supplement pro-tects cartilage during accelerated wear testing while also improving synovial flu-id’s ability to lubricate polymer-impregnated cartilage. The fundamental tissue—biomaterial tribological interactions investigated in this dissertation will inform the rational design of therapeutic, friction-reducing polymers for diverse applications. / 2019-04-04T00:00:00Z

Un nouveau dispositif tactile capable d'enregistrer et de reproduire des scènes tactiles à l'aide de forces tangentielles a été conçu et réalisé sur la base des limites et des exigences du système somatosensoriel humain. Les micro-déformations tangentielles du doigt coulissant sur la texture sont mesurées par le transducteur dans une bande passante de 500Hz et sont reproduites par le déplacement d'une plaque de verre sous l'action contrôlée d'un moteur électrodynamique critiquement amorti. Dans le but d'évaluer la pertinence des signaux sensoriels pour la reproduction d'une scène tactile, les grandeurs physiques qui influent sur la perception tactile humaine ont été étudiées. En utilisant une méthode d'escalier, il a été démontré que des ondelettes avec différentes combinaisons d'amplitude et de durée sont ressenties égales en intensité. Ces résultats suggèrent qu'il existe des quantités physiques communes - des invariants - pour ces signaux auques le cerveau est sensible, ce qui pourrait se rapporter à une constance perceptuelle dans l'exploration d'aspérités. En analysant les forces de frottement créées par un doigt glissant sur une surface dotées de points braille à des vitesses différents, il a été constaté que, bien que la réponse mécanique instantanée varie dans son ensemble, l'intégrale des forces tangentielles locales au cours d'une période de déformation courte reste constante. Ces enregistrements ont ensuite été classés selon leur vitesse et utilisés comme stimuli dans une tâche de comparaison. Les participants devaient glisser leur index sur une plateforme de verre qui vibrait afin de reproduire les points brailles de hauteurs différentes enregistrés à la même. / A new tactile device able to record and reproduce tactile scenes using tangential forces was designed and realized based on the limits and requirements of our somatosensory system. The tangential micro-deformations of the finger sliding on a textured surface can be measured with 500 Hz-bandwidth and reproduced by vibrating a glass plate under the controlled action of a critically damped electrodynamic actuator. In an effort to identify what sensory cues are relevant to tactile sensations for the reproduction of a scene, the physical quantities that influence tactile perception were studied. Using a staircase method, it was demonstrated that tactile wavelets with different combinations of amplitude and duration could be felt perceptually equal in intensity. These results suggested that there are common physical quantities – invariants – for these signals that the brain is sensitive to, which could relate to a perceptual constancy in asperity exploration. By analyzing the friction forces of a finger exploring braille dots with different pressures and velocities profiles, we found that although the mechanical response at a highly localized stimulus varies as a whole, the integral of the local tangential forces during a short deformation period remained constant. These recordings were then categorized by velocity and used as stimuli in a comparison task in which participants explored virtual dots of different heights at different speeds. While sliding on a glass platform which vibrated tangentially to reproduce a braille dot recorded at the same exploration speed, they were asked to report which of the two stimuli was stronger (or ‘higher’), a task that they could successfull.

The ageing population has become more active and live longer, these patients require hip replacement surgery at a younger age. Artificial hip implants, consisting of the acetabular cup and femoral head, affect the lives of many people, and the longevity of these implants pose significant concerns (rarely longer than 17 years). To help understand the lubricating performance of such a system, a hip joint model was built based on the Reynolds equation; the model developed simulated hydrodynamic lubrication. A steady-state angular rotation model was built whereby it was concluded that such motion would not support any load due to the anti-symmetric nature of the resultant pressure distribution (anti-symmetric about the axis of rotation). The pressure distribution from the steady-state rotation simulation contained a pressure source and sink which converged to the centre of the cup and whose pressure value increased in magnitude, as the eccentricity ratio increased. Infeasible results were obtained when the intermediary pressure constraint, allowing only positive pressure values, was implemented. The results obtained were not representative of the problem and it is recommended that this constraint not be implemented. The transient walking cycle model showed that a fluid with viscosity of 0.0015Pa.s is not sufficient to support a load in the walking cycle under conditions representative of hydrodynamic lubrication. Increasing the fluid viscosity promoted better results in the hydrodynamic model. Increasing the femoral head radius and decreasing the radial clearance between the components also improves the possibility of hydrodynamic lubrication. It is recommended that the model should be extended to investigate elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication. If possible, the effects of a boundary lubrication model should be investigated, as it is believed to be a major contribution to the lubrication of hip joints. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

The work deals with the lubrication of total knee replacement using fluorescence microscopy method, which allows unique insight into the contact between femoral and tibial component. The aim was to determine the effect of composition of synovial fluid (i.e. albumin, -globulin, hyaluronic acid and phospholipids) on film thickness and protein behaviour in contact, and also to determine changes of contact area during rotation. Since this is the first experimental work dealing with a knee replacement lubrication primarily, only simple rotation and load cycles were applied by the knee simulator. The output of the experiments was fluorescence intensity, which corresponds to dimensionless film thickness, over time. Another important output are the images directly showing the fluorescently labelled proteins in the contact area. The results show, there are fundamental differences in lubrication in different positions of rotation, due to changes of position, shape and behaviour of the contact area. The composition of the lubricant is also essential, since the proteins themselves form a relatively strong lubricating film and their mixture leads to a substantial reduction of film thickness, due to significant formation of clusters. Complex fluid, although it does not form the strongest layer, is able to create a quite continuous film.

The main goal of this diploma thesis is to determine the role of hyaluron acid and phospholipids on friction and lubrication of articular cartilage in regard to optimization of viscosupplements. This is carried out by measuring the coefficient of friction of the articular cartilage with several lubricants. Cartilage is lubricated particularly by a conventional viscosuplement, optimized viscosuplementation with phospholipids and model synovial fluid. In order to observe the function of those viscosuplements in the human body, both are mixed with the model synovial fluid, ubiquitous in human joints, in given ratio. Experiments revealed high friction when it comes to convectional viscosupplementation as opposed to low friction of the optimized viscosuplement with phospholipids. The same situation occurs when cartilage is lubricated with those viscosuplements mixed with model synovial fluid which might lead to development of a new, better, viscosupplementation based on hyaluron acid and phospholipids.

This master thesis is a part of the project TAČR TREND, which aim is the development of new ingredient for treatment of dry eye syndrome. Developed ingredient is derivative of hyaluronic acid, which is in this thesis compared with native hyaluronic acids and commercial eye drops. Aim of this thesis is to describe rheological and tribological properties of measured samples in terms of viscosity, mucoadhesivity and coefficient of friction. Coefficient of friction was measured on created tribological model of the eye in pin-on-plate configuration which represents physiologically relevant sliding speeds of blinking. Comparison with native hyaluronic acids and commercial products of eye drops showed, that derivative reaches higher values of viscosity, has mucoahesive properties and has low values of coefficient of friction. Those key parameters show that modification of hyaluronic acid is promising way for drug development for dry eye disease.