J Korean Hip Soc.  2010 Sep;22(3):227-233. 10.5371/jkhs.2010.22.3.227.

The Tribological and Lubrication Responses of a Cobalt-Chromium Femoral Head in Total Hip Arthroplasty

• Park S
• Truyen DC
• Lee JH
• Cho Y
• Park SJ
• Park KM
• Chang JD
• Lee SS

• KMID: 1461175
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5371/jkhs.2010.22.3.227

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study aimed at investigating the role of albumin as a boundary lubricant in the lubrication of the Co-Cr femoral head of artificial hip implants by measuring the tribological parameters of the Co-Cr femoral head with Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) techniques.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Samples were prepared from the main wear region of a Co-Cr femoral head from revision hip surgery. Two types of solutions were prepared as lubricants: PBS (Phosphate Buffered Saline) as a control solution and BSA (Bovine Serum Albumin) as a lubricant at concentrations of 10, 20, 30 and 40 mg/ml in PBS solution.
RESULTS
There were statistically significant differences in the frictional coefficients (micron) of a Co-Cr head between the PBS control and all the concentrations of BSA (10, 20, 30, 40 mg/ml) (P<0.001). Similarly, there were statistically significant differences for the micron between the BSA concentrations of 10, 20, 30 and 40 mg/m for all the cases except between the BSA of 30 and 40 mg/ml (P<0.01).
CONCLUSION
There exists a maximum protein concentration of BSA to play a role as an effective boundary lubricant through adsorption on the surface of Co-Cr femoral head.

Keyword

Atomic force microscope (AFM); Bovine serum albumin (BSA); Boundary lubrication; Total hip arthroplasty; Co-Cr femoral head

MeSH Terms

Adsorption
Arthroplasty
Friction
Head
Hip
Lubrication

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 (A) Specimen (10×10 mm2 squared area, 5 mm thickness) for AFM analysis was prepared from CoCr femoral head retrieved from revision surgery. (B) Schematic of Atomic Force Microscope (AFM): AFM device is composed of laser source, cantilever, photo-detector, and piezo-electric (PZT) tube scanner.

• 

  Fig. 2 Typical AFM surface topographies over a dimension of 25 µm×25 µm for CoCr femoral head, which are used to calculate surface roughness (Rq): (A) Three-dimensional AFM image, (B) Two-dimensional AFM image, (C) Average line profile analysis.

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  Fig. 3 Typical plots of friction forces versus normal forces for the lubricants of (A) PBS, (B) BSA of 20 mg/ml, (C) BSA of 40 mg/ml.

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  Fig. 4 The frictional coefficients (µ) of the CoCr femoral head through AFM was decreased with an increase in the concentrations of BSA.

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