Metal-on-metal hip simulator study of increased wear particle surface area due to ‘severe’ patient activity

Abstract This study investigated changes in metal-on-metal (MOM) hip wear and wear particle characteristics arising from a more aggressive patient activity level compared with normal walking. The test hypothesis was that ‘severe’-gait conditions will change wear, wear particle sizes, and morphology owing to a decline in joint lubrication. Four carbon MOM hip bearings 40 mm high were subjected to normal-walking and fast-jogging simulations in an orbital hip joint simulator with 25 per cent α-calf serum as a lubricant. Co-Cr-Mo wear particles were extracted using an enzymatic method, and prolate ellipsoid equations were used to estimate particle volume and surface area. Fast-jogging simulations generated a sevenfold increase in volumetric wear, a 33 per cent increase in mean wear particle size, and a threefold increase in the number of larger (needle) particles compared with walking. This resulted in a twentyfold increase in total wear particle surface area per 106 cycles compared with walking, thereby confirming our hypothesis. The clinical significance of this result suggests that highly active MOM patients may exhibit greater ion release than less active patients.