Can centrifugation affect the morphology of polyethylene wear debris?

Abstract

It was suggested that centrifugation may affect the morphology of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene wear particles isolated from periprosthetic tissues. In order to investigate this problem, several sets of in vivo polyethylene wear particles were isolated in the same way, using four different centrifugation speeds in the final isolation step. The first set of particles was separated only by flotation, the second set was centrifuged at 500 × g, the third at 16,000 × g and the fourth at 105,000 × g. The morphology of the wear particles was assessed by image analysis of SEM micrographs. Centrifugation speeds up to 105,000 × g had no effect on the morphology: quantitative image analysis parameters, such as equivalent diameter, circularity and elongation, remained the same as for particles obtained by spontaneous flotation.