The development of total hip arthroplasty has reached a state when quality prostheses are made, whose longevity is influenced significantly by material properties, design, component fixation and rate of wear of the articulating surfaces. It is the wear rate which is the most important factor influencing successful results for the use of total hip prostheses. The aim of this thesis is to perform a research on the various combinations of hip prostheses and its loading conditions. Also an experimental measurements of Bovine serum lubricating film thickness between the artificial femoral head and a glass disc are performed for different contact kinematic conditions.

Currently, the wear of the articulating surfaces in contact have a significant influence on the life of hip joint replacement. It is therefore desirable to determine the influence of certain aspects on the wear of replacement. For this reason, master´s thesis deals with the influence of asperities of real surfaces of the hip joint replacement on its wear. The aim is to create computational models that would correspond to the real surface of the scanned prosthesis, performing strain- stress analysis and comparison with the results without the presence of asperities.

This diploma thesis concerns itself with the experimental study of friction and lubrication in the artificial hip joint depending on the head size. Measurements were made in a hip joint simulator based on the principle of pendulum. For the friction measurements artificial joints, made from three material combinations and two diameters, from two companies were used. The measurements show that the material combination has a more significant effect to friction coefficient than the head size. Using a bigger head size shows a decrease in friction coefficient for all material combinations when compared to a smaller head size. For the measurement of lubrication film the colorimetric interferometry was applied. A metal-on-glass contact pair was used, where the glass cups were made according to the real measurements of the joint cups. Four types of hip replacements with diameters of 28 and 36 mm with two different diametral clearance were measured during a constant motion of 210 seconds. Measurements show, that the lubrication film in the hip joint with a small diametral clearance increases very fast over the 800 nm value. Contact surfaces in the hip joint with a large diametral clearance aren’t separated by the lubrication film, resulting in a damage of the chromium coating in cup. A thick lubrication film results in a higher friction coefficient, when compared with hip joints with a very thin or no lubrication film.

No description available.

Diploma thesis deals with analysis of coefficient of friction in total hip prosthesis for several materials bearing with presence of bovine serum as substitute of synovial fluid occurred in natural joint. Behavior of coefficient of friction is observed on Mini Traction Machine. Results are plotted at graphs representing dependence of coefficient of friction on time. There are described effects of several kinematic conditions, the influence of used material and the effect of the method of contact lubrication. The experiments analyze how the formation of lubricant film with a layer of adsorbed protein affects coefficient of friction.

This thesis deals with the experimental study of lubrication of hip joint replacements. The influence of the synovial fluid composition and the head material to the lubricating film thickness were asssesed by using a pendulum hip joint simulator. Both of these effects were assesed under static and dynamic loading conditions. The experimental results showed that the movement of the head against the cup is unnecessary for the separation of the rubbing surfaces by a layer of adsorbed proteins. Composition of the synovial fluid then significantly influences the thickness of the lubricating film. Two opposite extremes have been observed during tests with two model synovial fluids. The first fluid formed a very strong lubricating film. The second sample almost prevent adsorption of proteins and consequently formed only very thin lubricating film. The influence of the material is noticeable when comparing the results obtained with a metal head and ceramic heads. Metal head formes under the same conditions thicker lubricating film. This evidence may be partly influenced by different diametrical clearances, which were in the case of ceramic heads higher.

No description available.

Dizertační práce se zabývá mechanismy mazání v náhradách kyčelního kloubu. Byla provedena systematická studie formování proteinového filmu při zahrnutí různých materiálů a provozních podmínek. Hlavní pozornost je přitom věnována roli jednotlivých proteinů obsažených v synoviální kapalině při současné přítomnosti dalších proteinů. Jelikož metody aplikované v předchozích studiích neumožňovaly separovat jednotlivé složky maziva, byla vyvinuta optická měřící metoda na principu fluorescenční mikroskopie. Z důvodu verifikace metody byly provedeny dvě nezávislé studie zaměřené na měření tloušťky mazacího filmu a dělení maziva na výstupu mazaného kontaktu. Z důvodu určitých limitací fluorescenční mikroskopie byla dále využita i metoda optické interferometrie, jejíž využití je ilustrováno ve studii zabývající se formováním mazacího filmu v náhradách kyčelního klubu při uvažování reálné konformity třecích povrchů. Závěrečná část práce představuje nový metodologický přístup založený na in situ pozorování kontaktní oblasti umožňující popsat roli jednotlivých proteinů ve vztahu k vývoji tloušťky mazacího filmu. Práce obsahuje originální výsledky, které přináší nové poznání v oblasti biotribologie náhrad kyčelního kloubu vedoucí k dalšímu vývoji implantátů při snaze zabránit jejich selhání v důsledku omezené životnosti.

Biotribology, the study of lubrication, wear and friction within the body, has become a topic of high importance in recent times as we continue to encounter debilitating diseases and trauma that destroy function of the joints. A highly successful surgical procedure to replace the joint with an artificial equivalent alleviates dysfunction and pain. However, the wear of the bearing surfaces in prosthetic joints is a significant clinical problem and more patients are surviving longer than the life expectancy of the joint replacement. Revision surgery is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and has a far less successful outcome than primary joint replacement. As such, it is essential to ensure that everything possible is done to limit the rate of revision surgery. Past experience indicates that the survival rate of the implant will be influenced by many parameters, of primary importance, the material properties of the implant, the composition of the synovial fluid and the method of lubrication. In prosthetic joints, effective boundary lubrication is known to take place. The interaction of the boundary lubricant and the bearing material is of utmost importance. The identity of the vital active ingredient within synovial fluid (SF) to which we owe the near frictionless performance of our articulating joints has been the quest of researchers for many years. Once identified, tribo tests can determine what materials and more importantly what surfaces this fraction of SF can function most optimally with. Surface-Active Phospholipids (SAPL) have been implicated as the body’s natural load bearing lubricant. Studies in this thesis are the first to fully characterise the adsorbed SAPL detected on the surface of retrieved prostheses and the first to verify the presence of SAPL on knee prostheses. Rinsings from the bearing surfaces of both hip and knee prostheses removed from revision operations were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to determine the presence and profile of SAPL. Several common prosthetic materials along with a novel biomaterial were investigated to determine their tribological interaction with various SAPLs. A pin-on-flat tribometer was used to make comparative friction measurements between the various tribo-pairs. A novel material, Pyrolytic Carbon (PyC) was screened as a potential candidate as a load bearing prosthetic material. Friction measurements were also performed on explanted prostheses. SAPL was detected on all retrieved implant bearing surfaces. As a result of the study eight different species of phosphatidylcholines were identified. The relative concentrations of each species were also determined indicating that the unsaturated species are dominant. Initial tribo tests employed a saturated phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and the subsequent tests adopted the addition of the newly identified major constituents of SAPL, unsaturated phosphatidylcholine (USPC), as the test lubricant. All tribo tests showed a dramatic reduction in friction when synthetic SAPL was used as the lubricant under boundary lubrication conditions. Some tribopairs showed more of an affinity to SAPL than others. PyC performed superior to the other prosthetic materials. Friction measurements with explanted prostheses verified the presence and performance of SAPL. SAPL, in particular phosphatidylcholine, plays an essential role in the lubrication of prosthetic joints. Of particular interest was the ability of SAPLs to reduce friction and ultimately wear of the bearing materials. The identification and knowledge of the lubricating constituents of SF is invaluable for not only the future development of artificial joints but also in developing effective cures for several disease processes where lubrication may play a role. The tribological interaction of the various tribo-pairs and SAPL is extremely favourable in the context of reducing friction at the bearing interface. PyC is highly recommended as a future candidate material for use in load bearing prosthetic joints considering its impressive tribological performance.

The main objective of this diploma thesis is to determine the influence of synovial fluid compodition and the influence of surface microtextures on lubrication of hip join replacements. For all experiments, hip joint simulator based on the pendulum principle was utilized. Metal heads (CoCrMo) manufactured by B Braun company and and tailor made acetabular cups from optical glass were used as contact couples. Acetabulum dimensions were fabricated according to dimensions of real implants. Experiments with surface microtextures simulated walking cycle for 210 s and development of lubrication film over time was observed.Results have shown that all types of tested structures improved lubrication of contact area, where the best results were obtained for square and triangle shapes respectively. Second set of experiments was based on the fact, that the composition of synovial fluid of healthy people differs from the composition of patients with various stages of osteoarthritis. Therefore, experiments with different model fluids were compared, which in their composition correspond to different groups of patients. For the model fluid that corresponds to the largest number of cases, experiments with individual components and combinations thereof were subsequently performed to provide a more detailed description of how these components affect the film-forming mechanism. The results show, that a change in fluid composition of patients with osteoarthritis can have a major negative effect on fluid formation process within the pair.