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Demonstration of a New Technique Using Radioisotope Tracers to Measure the Backside Wear Rate on Tibial Inserts

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Abstract

Local backside wear measurements on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) tibial inserts in LCS mobile bearing knee prostheses have been performed using a new radioisotope tracing technique. The radioisotope tracers 97Ru and 101mRh were synthesized via a fusion evaporation reaction and recoil-implanted into cylindrical plugs of UHMWPE. The labelled plugs were carefully fitted into tibial inserts at two relevant locations. With bovine serum acting as a lubricant, the tibial inserts were then worn in vitro for 500,000 and 780,000 cycles, respectively, in a pneumatic knee motion simulator. Results reflect the non-linear change of wear during the wear-in phase and its evolution to a long-term steady-state rate. This new technique shows potential for extracting localized wear rates across the backside of a tibial insert in order to develop a comprehensive backside wear model.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge contributions by workshop staff and by Yanyan Liu, Hans Riesen and Rachel Li. The two CoCr-UHMWPE prostheses were provided by DePuy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Canberra Campus, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia

    Jacob A. Warner, Laura G. Gladkis & Heiko Timmers

  2. Trauma and Orthopaedic Research Unit, The Canberra Hospital, P.O. Box 11, Woden, ACT, 2606, Australia

    Paul N. Smith & Jennifer M. Scarvell

  3. Australian National University, Medical School, ANU, Canberra, Australia

    Paul N. Smith & Jennifer M. Scarvell

Authors
  1. Jacob A. Warner
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  2. Laura G. Gladkis
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  3. Paul N. Smith
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  4. Jennifer M. Scarvell
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  5. Heiko Timmers
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Correspondence to Jacob A. Warner.

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Warner, J.A., Gladkis, L.G., Smith, P.N. et al. Demonstration of a New Technique Using Radioisotope Tracers to Measure the Backside Wear Rate on Tibial Inserts. Tribol Lett 46, 139–145 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-012-9933-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-012-9933-8

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