BACKGROUND The development of highly vascularized and inflammatory periprosthetic tissue characterizes the progress of aseptic loosening, a major complication of joint arthroplasty. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important cell signaling protein involved in angiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether R2/Fc (a VEGF neutralizing antibody) and SU5416 (a VEGF...

Aseptic loosening mediated by wear particle-induced osteolysis (PIO) remains the major cause of implant loosening in endoprosthetic surgery. The development of new vitamin E (α-tocopherol)-blended ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (VE-UHMWPE) with increased oxidation resistance and improved mechanical properties has raised hopes. Furthermore, regenerative approaches may be opened, as vit...

Crosslinking has been extensively introduced to reduce the wear of UHMWPE. In this study the wear rates and wear surfaces of UHMWPE with different levels of crosslinking were compared in a hip joint simulator. The UHMWPE was either non-irradiated, gamma irradiated in air (2.5MRad), or highly crosslinked (7.5 and 10MRad). The intentionally crosslinked materials showed a significantly lower volum...

Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) having a low coefficient of friction (CoF), high wearand chemical resistance in harsh environments, is used for fabricating medical products (hip and knee joints, intervertebral discs, plates for maxillofacial surgery, and others). Priority of polymers, in particular UHMWPE to be applied as medical implant materials, is due to their proximity to ...

UNLABELLED Wear debris generated by ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) used in joint replacement devices has been of concern due to reductions of the implant longevity. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has been used to improve the wear performance of UHMWPE. Our aim was to investigate the elastic and adhesive properties of rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs), through AFM, after expos...

Active Screen Plasma Nitriding (ASPN) is a well-established technique used for the surface modification of materials, the result of which is often a product with enhanced functional performance. Here we report the modification of the chemical and mechanical properties of ultra-high molecular weight poly(ethylene) (UHMWPE) using 80:20 (v/v) N2/H2 ASPN, followed by growth of 3T3 fibroblasts on th...

Recently, nanometre-sized UHMWPE particles generated from hip and knee replacements have been identified in vitro and in vivo. UHMWPE particles in the 0.1-1.0μm size range have been shown to be more biologically active than larger particles, provoking an inflammatory response implicated in late aseptic loosening of total joint replacements. The biological activity of nanometre-sized particles h...

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are added as reinforcement to ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) with an intended application for orthopedic implants. Electrostatic spraying is established as a potential fabrication method for synthesizing large-scale UHMWPE-GNP composite films. At a low concentration of 0.1 wt % GNP, the composite film shows highest improvement in fracture toughnes...

The development of accurate theoretical failure, fatigue, and wear models for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is an important step towards better understanding the micromechanisms of the surface damage that occur in load bearing orthopaedic components and improving the lifetime of joint arthoplasties. Previous attempts to analytically predict the clinically observed damage, we...

In this study, injection molding process of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) reinforced with nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) was simulated and optimized through minimizing the shrinkage and warpage of the hip liners as an essential part of a hip prosthesis. Fractional factorial design (FFD) was applied to the design of the experiment, modeling, and optimizing the shrinkage and warpage...