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The increasing usage of metal-on-metal joint replacements consisting of a cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy requires increasing concern regarding the inevitable generation of metallic wear debris. Patients with these joint replacements exhibit elevated concentrations of cobalt and chromium ions within their serum, blood and urine. The presence of these metal ions suggests the potential for bodily damage and indicates corrosive processes are acting upon wear debris. To understand the behavior of these corrosive processes, powders of cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy F-75 were studied. Four powder sizes (44, 74, 105, and 420 µm diameter) were subjected to Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) for a 42 day immersion test within an incubating shaker set at 37°C. Samples were removed periodically and analyzed for cobalt and chromium content using Inductive Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The resulting data gathered allowed for an evaluation of the corrosion rate as a function of particle diameter and exposure duration. Two observations were noted from the results. First, cobalt concentration (no chromium was detected) increased as a logarithmic function of time. For the 44, 105, and 420 µm diameter powders, cobalt concentration increased rapidly within four days of exposure but corrosion reached a plateau afterwards. The development of an oxide layer that inhibited further corrosion was the cause for this behavior. Second, the cobalt concentration reached a different upper limit depending on the particle diameter. For the 44, 105, and 420 µm diameter powders, samples reached average limits of 0.0611, 0.0314, and 0.0291 ppm Co, respectively. This observation can be related to the increase in particle surface area as diameter decreases within a given volume of particles. Modeling of this data resulted in empirical relationships for cobalt concentration and corrosion rate as a function of time, and particle diameter or surface area. However, these relationships were not reliably accurate in predicting the results of external corrosion studies on submicron cobalt-chromium particles. Consequently, this model of particle corrosion does not predict what may occur with nano-scale particles.

Periprosthetic osteolysis remains the leading complication of total hip arthroplasty. It often results in aseptic loosening of the implant with a requirement for a revision surgery. Wear-generated particular debris is the main cause of initiating this destructive process. The most important cellular target for wear debris is a macrophage, which responds to particle challenge by activatig proinflamatory signals, which contribute to increased bone resorption. The activation of the RANKL/RANK/OPG system is considered to be a likely cause of periprosthetic osteolysis leading to implant failure. The aim of this study was to examine the possible correlation between the clinical extent of osteolysis, the number of wear particles and the expression of the osteoclastic mediator RANKL in the tissues around aseptically loosened cemented and non-cemened total hip replacements. Periprosthetic tissues were harvested from 59 patients undergoing revision hip replacement for aseptic loosening. We had observed RANKL-positive cells in 23 of our 59 patients, their presence was noted predominantly in tissues with a loosened cemented endoprosthesis. We have shown that RANKL is present only in the tissues with a large amount of wear debris and predominantly in the cases involving lacunar type of osteolysis. Key words:...

Wear debris found in gear lubricating oil provides extremely valuable information on the nature and severity of gear faults as well as remaining gear life. The conventional off-line process of taking samples of oil for testing of wear debris is a hindrance because it is laborious, expensive, delays information collection, and is expert oriented. In view of these limitations, the development of automating wear debris particle analysis using various approaches has been ongoing for years. However, existing online technology does not encourage widespread use of wear debris analysis (WDA) in the industry. High costs coupled with expert and labour requirements have led users to use other types of condition-based maintenance, such as vibration. There is a need to develop a WDA technique that is relatively cheap, online, requires little expertise to handle, and provides more information for maintenance decision-making. This PhD thesis proposes a WDA technique which uses image processing and three-dimensional image reconstruction to diagnose the health of machinery. Its emphasis is on using the thickness and volume of the particles generated over time to predict the onset of gearbox failure, so that maintenance action can be taken before gears reach catastrophic failure.

Over the years, different lubricants have been used to operate hip simulators. The current applicable ISO standard (ISO 14242-1:2002) recommends the use of 25% calf serum diluted with deionised water. The standard further recommends that the fluid be changed and the acetabular cup be weighed every 500 000 cycles. This procedure results in a loss of both the third body wear particles and the wear pattern. The purpose of this study was to develop a synthetic lubricant that would map the viscosity and lubricity properties of joint fluid (“synovial fluid”) over the whole duration of a simulator test, which is typically five million cycles. The first objective of this study was to find the effect of temperature increase on the viscous and lubricative properties of joint fluid retrieved from both primary and revision patients prior to surgery. The lubricity tests were done on a Linear-Oscillation Test Machine (SRV machine). Three test temperatures were used namely 38ºC, 50ºC and 60ºC. The load at failure and the average coefficient of friction were parameters measured during these tests. A decrease in the load at failure was found for an increase in test temperature, while the coefficient of friction stayed relatively stable. The viscosity tests were done using a Brookfield Viscometer. The three test temperatures mentioned above, were copied. The joint fluid tested showed pseudoplastic flow behaviour. An increase in the viscosity as a function of test temperature increase and a magnitude of shear rate was observed. The second objective of this study was to develop a synthetic lubricant that had the same average properties than that found for the retrieved joint fluid. A mixture of three different chemicals, namely Poloxamer 188, Xanthan Gum and Lube Boosterâ II was used to map the viscous and lubricative properties of the joint fluid. A comparative test using the synthetic lubricant and bovine serum was performed in a custom-built simulator. Wear debris was sampled at 500 000 cycle intervals up to 4 500 000 cycles. During these intervals the bovine serum stations were drained and washed with deionised water, but not stripped and weighed as specified in the ISO standard. This was done intentionally to preserve the wear pattern during the entire test. The synthetic lubricant stations were not stripped or drained during these intervals. This ensured that the wear pattern was maintained and that the effect of accumulative wear could be investigated throughout the duration of the test. The wear debris from the test was then compared to wear debris retrieved from scar tissue of revision patients. The wear debris that was found in the scar tissue retrieved from patients was similar in shape and size to that which was found in the simulator using bovine serum and the synthetic lubricant. It can thus be concluded that an acceptable lubricant had been developed to replace the current test medium in the simulators. / Dissertation (MEd (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

Periprosthetic osteolysis remains the leading complication of total hip arthroplasty. It often results in aseptic loosening of the implant with a requirement for a revision surgery. Wear-generated particular debris is the main cause of initiating this destructive process. The most important cellular target for wear debris is a macrophage, which responds to particle challenge by activatig proinflamatory signals, which contribute to increased bone resorption. The activation of the RANKL/RANK/OPG system is considered to be a likely cause of periprosthetic osteolysis leading to implant failure. The aim of this study was to examine the possible correlation between the clinical extent of osteolysis, the number of wear particles and the expression of the osteoclastic mediator RANKL in the tissues around aseptically loosened cemented and non-cemened total hip replacements. Periprosthetic tissues were harvested from 59 patients undergoing revision hip replacement for aseptic loosening. We had observed RANKL-positive cells in 23 of our 59 patients, their presence was noted predominantly in tissues with a loosened cemented endoprosthesis. We have shown that RANKL is present only in the tissues with a large amount of wear debris and predominantly in the cases involving lacunar type of osteolysis. Key words:...

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