A study of the combined effects of shelf ageing following irradiation in air and counterface roughness on the wear of UHMWPE

Abstract

Damage to polished femoral heads in vivo can cause increased wear of acetabular cups. Oxidation and ageing after sterilisation by gamma irradiation in air, can also change the mechanical properties and wear resistance of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). This study investigated the combined effect of these changes in material properties on the wear of UHMWPE for different counterface roughnesses, representative of new femoral heads and those damaged in vivo. Wear rates were studied on a tri-pin-on-disc tribometer in a protein-containing solution. A comparison was made of the wear, using three different counterface roughnesses, of specimens that were manufactured from polyethylene acetabular cups of different shelf ages (3–120 months) after gamma irradiation in air but never implanted. These were compared to the wear of control specimens that were manufactured from cups that had not been sterilised. The wear surfaces were tested 1 mm below the initial articulating surface of the cup, the position of high degradation. The wear rate of UHMWPE which had been sterilised by gamma irradiation in air was shown to increase significantly with ageing time on the shelf for all counterface conditions. The wear rate of all materials increased markedly as the counterface roughness increased, but to different extents depending on the age of the material. The combined effect of ageing and increase in counterface roughness had a dramatic effect (as high as 2000 fold increase) on the wear rate. Both ageing of the polymer and damage to the femoral head have been cited as causing increased wear in vivo. The results of this study demonstrate that these variables can act synergistically to markedly effect UHMWPE wear rate.