Implant Stability and Fixation Using Surface Texturing and Surface Treatments

Implant Stability and Fixation

Implant stability is critical in obtaining good long-term success of total joint replacements. Loss of either biological or cement fixation can lead to accelerated wear, pain, loss of function, or even fracture of the implant, each of which could potentially necessitate revision surgery. Fixation strength can be improved by using macrotextured (porous or textured) surfaces, which enhance the potential for mechanical inter-lock at the implant-bone interface.

Implant Surface Texturing and Surface Treatments

Oxidized zirconium, a material introduced in 2000 for orthopaedic bearing applications (Oxinium™, Smith & Nephew, Inc., Memphis, TN) and reported to have beneficial wear and abrasion resistance cannot be easily processed using traditional porous coating techniques. Therefore, an alternative chemical surface texturing method was utilized. Chemical texturing process has been used clinically on Ti-6Al-4V total hip replacement components to create a surface morphology suitable for bone ingrowth. This texturing method, known commercially as ChemTex® 5-5-5 (CYCAM, Inc., Houston, PA), and a newly developed chemical texturing process, known commercially as Tecotex® I-103 (Tecomet, Woburn, MA), were selected to produce macro-textured surfaces (Rmax > 0.4 mm) on a zirconium alloy (Zr-2.5Nb). These textured surfaces are subsequently oxidized to form a hard ceramic layer uniformly about 5 µm thick over the entire surface, which consists predominantly of monoclinic zirconia.

A complete set of references can be found by referring to the original paper.

Primary author: G. Heness and B. Ben-Nissan

Source: Abstracted from “Innovative Bioceramics” in Materials Forum, Vol. 27, 2004.

For more information on this source please visit The Institute of Materials Engineering Australasia.