Relationship between wear behaviour of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and surface profile of Co-Cr-Mo alloy in artificial joint

The relationship between the wear behaviour of an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (GUR1050) pin and surface profile of a Co-28Cr-6Mo alloy (ASTM F-75) disc was investigated. Tribological tests have been performed by pin-on-disc wear testing machine with multi-directional pathways, obtaining the influence of micro slurry-jet erosion (MSE) processed Co-Cr-Mo alloy. The specific wear and the wear particles have been investigated. It was elucidated that the Co-Cr-Mo alloy surface processed by MSE influenced the specific wear rate of polyethylene; however, the morphological aspect of polyethylene wear particles was not drastically changed. The wear particles isolated from the lubricating liquid were added to a culture medium, and human monocyte-derived macrophages were incubated by using an upright/inverted method. The production of TNF-α and IL-6 seemed to have a correlation with the amount of wear particles added, however, the influence of particle size on the production of TNF-α and IL-6 was not obvious. This means that the improvements for the incubation method, i.e. upright/inverted method, need further investigation for the accurate analysis. © 2019 Biosurface and Biotribology.All right reserved.