Relationship between Oxidation and Wear of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene for Total Joint Arthroplasty

The most widely-used orthopaedic grade polymer bearing liner material, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), for the total joint arthroplasty degrades after gamma-irradiation sterilization through the progressive oxidation in a shelf and in vivo. Oxidative degradation makes UHMWPE brittle and leads to decrease in mechanical properties. In this study the relationship between post-gamma-irradiation aging time and wear of UHMWPE was investigated. Six retrieved polyethylene hip liners implanted for 3-16 years and then stored in air for 1.5-6.5 years until tests were used. Two types of pin-on-disk wear testing were conducted by the uni-directional repeat pass rotating and by the linear reciprocating stainless steel disks against stationary polyethylene pins under 4Mpa at 1Hz with bovine serum lubrication in ambient environment. Wear of retrieved polyethylene hip liners does not have direct correlation with in vivo or total aging time. Linear reciprocal sliding motion generated more remarkable wear than uni-directional repeat pass sliding motion. It indicates that kinematic motion affects very crucially on the wear of aged UHMWPE having brittle white band region.