Can physical joint simulators be used to anticipate clinical wear problems of new joint replacement implants prior to market release?
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Date
2016-05-09
Authors
Medley, John B.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sage Publications
Abstract
One of the most important mandates of physical joint simulators is to provide test results that allow the implant manufacturer to anticipate and perhaps avoid clinical wear problems with their new products. This is best done before market release. This study gives four steps to follow in conducting such wear simulator testing. Two major examples involving hip wear simulators are discussed in which attempts had been made to predict clinical wear performance prior to market release. The second one, involving the DePuy ASR implant systems, is chosen for more extensive treatment by making it an illustrative example to explore whether wear simulator testing can anticipate clinical wear problems. It is concluded that hip wear simulator testing did provide data in the academic literature that indicated some risk of clinical wear problems prior to market release of the ASR implant systems. This supports the idea that physical joint simulators have an important role in the pre-market testing of new joint replacement implants.
Description
Medley, J. B. (2016). Can physical joint simulators be used to anticipate clinical wear problems of new joint replacement implants prior to market release? Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 230(5), 347–358. Copyright © 2016. Sage Publications. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/0954411916643902
Keywords
Hip wear simulator, metal-on-metal hip implants, pre-market testing, correlation of wear rates, clinical wear