The lubrication in natural synovial joints and joint prostheses.

Synovial Joints and Lubrication mechanisms

Synovial joints form the most important feature of the human body as they represent the centers of the most essential and basic activity in the human beings, which is motion. A synovial joint can be described as a load carrying system consisting of two mating bones with tangential and /or normal motions. The bone ends, which are usually spherical in appearance, are covered with a soft sponge li...

Supramolecular synergy in the boundary lubrication of synovial joints

Hyaluronan, lubricin and phospholipids, molecules ubiquitous in synovial joints, such as hips and knees, have separately been invoked as the lubricants responsible for the remarkable lubrication of articular cartilage; but alone, these molecules cannot explain the extremely low friction at the high pressures of such joints. We find that surface-anchored hyaluronan molecules complex synergistica...

"Boosted lubrication" in synovial joints by fluid entrapment and enrichment.

The manner in which a human load-bearing synovial joint is able to carry the applied loads has been the subject of speculation for many years. In the past, a number of theories have been advanced each using as a basis one of several modes of lubrication well known to mechanical engineets. More recently some of the more unique characteristics of human cartilage have been recognized, and theories...

Superior Lubrication Mechanism in Artificial Hydrogel Cartilage for Joint Prostheses

Mechanism of Boundary Lubrication and Wear of Frictionless Synovial Joint

The natural synovial joints have excellent lubricating ability to provide very low frictional resistance and high wear resistance during various activities of human being. Synovial fluid is having mainly constituents of glycoproteins and phospholipids. Albumin adsorbs over globulin by hydrophobic bonding after formation of globulin coating on hydrophilic cartilage surface and phosphatidylcholin...