6 - Alumina bearings in orthopedics: Origin and evolution

Abstract

The global orthopedics medical devices market is currently around $40 billion PA. The global market in hip replacements is currently around $7 billion PA, and it is forecast to reach $9 billion by 2024 [181]. In 2010, the global number of hip replacements reached 1 million PA [182]. Using data from various sources [182–184] the forecast shown in Fig. 6.1 was generated, showing that in the current year (2018) there were approximately 1.3 million hip replacements globally. By the early 2020s, the global number of hip replacements will reach about 1.4 million, including over 420,000 in the United States alone, and it will surpass 1.5 million by 2024. This chapter will provide a holistic overview of the evolution of the hip replacement, from its invention in Germany in the 1880s (ivory), to its evolution in the mid 20th century into the metal-on-metal hip, to its evolution in the 1960s and 1970s into the metal-on-polyethylene hip, and its ultimate evolution into the "ceramic" (alumina) hip, which began in the 1970s and achieved market dominance in about 2015.