Abstract
Wear is a common cause for aseptic loosening in artificial joints. The purpose of this study was to develop an automated diagnostical method for identification of the number and size distribution of wear debris. For this purpose, metal debris samples were extracted from a hip simulator and then analyzed by the electrospray method combined with a differential mobility analyzer, allowing particle detection ranging from several nanometers up to 1 µm. Wear particles were identified with a characteristic peak at 15 nm. The electrospray setup was successfully used and validated for the first time to characterize wear debris from simulated total joint replacement. The advantages of this diagnostic method are its time- and financial efficiency and its suitability for testing of different materials.
Highlights
Aseptic loosening is a prevalent complication of major arthroplasties and it is the most common cause of hip and knee replacement [1,2,3,4]
Metal debris samples were extracted from a hip simulator and analyzed by the electrospray method combined with a differential mobility analyzer, allowing particle detection ranging from several nanometers up to 1 μm
Wear is commonly regarded as a possible source for aseptic loosening in artificial joints and can be found as polyethylene, metal, ceramic, and even cement particles, depending on the used implant material(s)
Summary
Aseptic loosening is a prevalent complication of major arthroplasties and it is the most common cause of hip and knee replacement [1,2,3,4]. Previous reports show that up to 70% [5,6,7] of all revisions of the hip and up to 44% [4,8,9] of the knee joint can be traced back to aseptic loosening. Revision surgeries often show inferior results compared to primary intervention. They are costly, time-consuming, bear risk, and are stressful for the patient. Wear is commonly regarded as a possible source for aseptic loosening in artificial joints and can be found as polyethylene, metal, ceramic, and even cement particles, depending on the used implant material(s). An influence on the biological activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts has been shown, caused by different number and size of particles, especially of metal wear particles [10,11,12,13,14]
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