In situ measurements of thin films in bovine serum lubricated contacts using optical interferometry

Abstract

The aim of this study is to consider the relevance of in situ measurements of bovine serum film thickness in the optical test device that could be related to the function of the artificial hip joint. It is mainly focussed on the effect of the hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the transparent surface and the effect of its geometry. Film thickness measurements were performed using ball-on-disc and lens-on-disc configurations of optical test device as a function of time. Chromatic interferograms were recorded with a high-speed complementary metal-oxide semiconductor digital camera and evaluated with thin film colorimetric interferometry. It was clarified that a chromium layer covering the glass disc has a hydrophobic behaviour which supports the adsorption of proteins contained in the bovine serum solution, thereby a thicker lubricating film is formed. On the contrary, the protein film formation was not observed when the disc was covered with a silica layer having a hydrophilic behaviour. In this case, a very thin lubricating film was formed only due to the hydrodynamic effect. Metal and ceramic balls have no substantial effect on lubricant film formation although their contact surfaces have relatively different wettability. It was confirmed that conformity of contacting surfaces and kinematic conditions has fundamental effect on bovine serum film formation. In the ball-on-disc configuration, the lubricant film is formed predominantly due to protein aggregations, which pass through the contact zone and increase the film thickness. In the more conformal ball-on-lens configuration, the lubricant film is formed predominantly due to hydrodynamic effect, thereby the film thickness is kept constant during measurement.

Keywords

Total hip replacement conformity of surfaces hydrophobicity hydrophilicity bovine serum protein formation lubrication film thickness colorimetric interferometry

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Goldsmith

AAJ

Dowson

Isaac

. A comparative joint simulator study of the wear of metal-on-metal and alternative material combinations in hip replacements. Proc IMechE, Part H: J Engineering in Medicine 2000; 214: 39–47.

Kaddick

Wimmer

. Hip simulator wear testing according to the newly introduced standard ISO 14242. Proc IMechE, Part H: J Engineering in Medicine 2001; 215: 429–442.

Dowson

Hardaker

Flett

. A hip joint simulator study of the performance of metal-on-metal joints. Part I: the role of materials. J Arthroplasty 2004; 19: 118–123.

Dowson

Hardaker

Flett

. A hip joint simulator study of the performance of metal-on-metal joints. Part II: design. J Arthroplasty 2004; 19: 124–130.

Catelas

Medley

Campbell

. Comparison of in vitro with in vivo characteristics of wear particles from metal-metal hip implants. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 2004; 70: 167–178.

Essner

Sutton

Wang

. Hip simulator wear comparison of metal-on-metal, ceramic-on-ceramic and crosslinked UHMWPE bearings. Wear 2005; 259: 992–995.

Hussain

Kamali

. A hip simulator study of metal-on-metal hip joint device using acetabular cups with different fixation surface conditions. Proc IMechE, Part H: J Engineering in Medicine 2011; 225: 877–887.

Fisher

. A stratified approach to pre-clinical tribological evaluation of joint replacements representing a wider range of clinical conditions advancing beyond the current standard. Faraday Discuss 2012; 156: 59–68.

Saikko

Ahlroos

Revitzer

. The effect of acetabular cup position on wear of a large-diameter metal-on-metal prosthesis studied with a hip joint simulator. Tribol Int 2013; 60: 70–76.

10.

Loving

Lee

Herrera

. Wear performance evaluation of a contemporary dual mobility hip bearing using multiple hip simulator testing conditions. J Arthroplasty 2013; 28: 1041–1046.

11.

Affatato

Spinelli

Zavalloni

. Tribology and total hip joint replacement: current concepts in mechanical simulation. Med Eng Phys 2008; 30: 1305–1317.

12.

Hall

Unsworth

. Friction in hip prostheses. Biomaterials 1997; 18: 1017–1026.

13.

Scholes

Unsworth

Hall

. The effects of material combination and lubricant on the friction of total hip prostheses. Wear 2000; 241: 209–213.

14.

Brockett

Williams

Jin

. Friction of total hip replacements with different bearings and loading conditions. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 2007; 81: 508–515.

15.

Mazzucco

Spector

. The John Charnley Award Paper: the role of joint fluid in the tribology of total joint arthroplasty. Clin Orthop Relat Res 2004; 429: 17–32.

16.

Karuppiah

KSK

Sundararajan

Z-H

. The effect of protein adsorption on the friction behavior of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. Tribol Lett 2006; 22: 181–188.

17.

Scholes

Unsworth

. The effects of proteins on the friction and lubrication of artificial joints. Proc IMechE, Part H: J Engineering in Medicine 2006; 220: 687–693.

18.

Roba

Naka

Gautier

. The adsorption and lubrication behavior of synovial fluid proteins and glycoproteins on the bearing-surface materials of hip replacements. Biomaterials 2009; 30: 2072–2078.

19.

Fan

Myant

Underwood

. Inlet protein aggregation: a new mechanism for lubricating film formation with model synovial fluids. Proc IMechE, Part H: J Engineering in Medicine 2011; 225: 696–709.

20.

Myant

Underwood

Fan

. Lubrication of metal-on-metal hip joints: the effect of protein content and load on film formation and wear. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2012; 6: 30–40.

21.

Myant

Cann

. In contact observation of model synovial fluid lubricating mechanisms. Tribol Int 2013; 63: 97–104.

22.

Fan

Myant

Underwood

. Synovial fluid lubrication of artificial joints: protein film formation and composition. Faraday Discuss 2012; 156: 69–85.

23.

Vrbka

Návrat

Křupka

. Study of film formation in bovine serum lubricated contacts under rolling/sliding conditions. Proc IMechE, Part J: J Engineering Tribology 2013; 227: 459–475.

24.

Hartl

Křupka

Poliščuk

. An automatic system for real-time evaluation of EHD film thickness and shape based on the colorimetric interferometry. Tribol T 1999; 42: 303–309.

25.

Hartl

Křupka

Poliščuk

. Thin film colorimetric interferometry. Tribol T 2001; 44: 270–276.

26.

Sethuraman

Han

Kane

. Effect of surface wettability on the adhesion of proteins. Langmuir 2004; 20: 7779–7788.

27.

Nakanishi

Sakiyama

Imamura

. On the adsorption of proteins on solid surfaces, a common but very complicated phenomenon. J Biosci Bioeng 2001; 91: 233–244.

28.

Nakashima

Sawae

Murakami

. Study on wear reduction mechanisms of artificial cartilage by synergistic protein boundary film formation. JSME Int J C: Mech Sy 2005; 48: 555–561.

29.

Nakashima

Sawae

Murakami

. Effect of conformational changes and differences of proteins on frictional properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel. Tribol Int 2007; 40: 1423–1427.

30.

Heuberger

Widmer

Zobeley

. Protein-mediated boundary lubrication in arthroplasty. Biomaterials 2005; 26: 1165–1173.

31.

Fang

H-W

Hsieh

M-C

Huang

H-T

. Conformational and adsorptive characteristics of albumin affect interfacial protein boundary lubrication: from experimental to molecular dynamics simulation approaches. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2009; 68: 171–177.

32.

Mishina

Kojima

. Changes in human serum albumin on arthroplasty frictional surfaces. Wear 2008; 265: 655–663.

33.

Yarimitsu

Nakashima

Sawae

. Effects of lubricant composition on adsorption behavior of proteins on rubbing surface and stability of protein boundary film. Tribol Online 2008; 3: 238–242.

34.

Yarimitsu

Nakashima

Sawae

. Influences of lubricant composition on forming boundary film composed of synovia constituents. Tribol Int 2009; 42: 1615–1623.