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The effect of lubricant composition on the wear behaviour of polyethylene for orthopaedic applications

The composition of orthopaedic wear testing lubricants used to mimic synovial fluid (SF) is known to significantly affect in vitro polyethylene (PE) wear; however, some wear testing standards may be promoting the use of lubricants that are not clinically relevant. The present thesis evaluated the biochemical composition of human osteoarthritic and periprosthetic SF in order to propose changes to lubricant specifications in current wear testing standards. Using this data, pin-on-disc wear tests were conducted to explore the effects of more clinically relevant lubricants on PE wear. Results showed that wear decreased using a more clinically relevant lubricant. Samples of these lubricants were biochemically evaluated and compared to the SF results previously obtained, which showed that current standards for wear testing lubricants are biochemically different from SF. The findings from the present thesis encourage the modification of standardized lubricant specifications to improve wear testing protocols and guarantee clinically relevant wear testing.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:MWU.1993/22055
Date22 August 2013
CreatorsWong, Leah
ContributorsBrandt, Jan-Mels (Mechanical Engineering) Wyss, Urs (Mechanical Engineering), Wu, Christine (Mechanical Engineering) Thomson, Douglas (Computer and Electrical Engineering)
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Detected LanguageEnglish

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