Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a popular choice for the liner material of the acetabular cup and forms one of the articulating surfaces in total joint replacements (TJRs). Evaluating the tribological characteristics of UHMWPE on immediate contact with the physiological fluid is essential to understand pathways and mechanisms of eventual failure. In this study, the friction response and interfacial shear strength of a UHMWPE - ceramic interface was quantified using atomic force microscopy (AFM) before and after exposure to bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution. A 10% protein solution concentration was used to closely mimic protein levels in human physiological fluid. Medical grade UHMWPE samples with two different surface finishing treatments, milling and melting/reforming were used in the experiments. Friction response as a function of normal load was monitored on a particular area on each sample. Fluorescence microscopy was used to assess the protein adsorption on the test area. The interfacial shear strength of the interface was calculated from the friction data using contact mechanics. Contact angle measurements were also performed on the surfaces to evaluate the surface energies before and after protein adsorption. Correlations between the friction behavior and surface energy of the surfaces are discussed.

Volume Subject Area:
Materials
Topics:
Proteins, Weight (Mass), Friction, Atomic force microscopy, Fluids, Physiology, Shear strength, Surface energy, Arthroplasty, Biomedicine, Ceramics, Contact mechanics, Failure, Fluorescence, Melting, Microscopy, Milling, Molecular weight, Stress, Surface finishing, Tribology
1.
El-Warrak
 
A. O.
,
Olmstead
 
M. L.
,
von Rechenberg
 
B.
and
Auer
 
J. A.
,
2001
, “
A review of aseptic loosening in total hip arthroplasty
,”
Veterinary and Comparative Orthopaedics and Traumatology
, Vol.
14
, pp.
115
–
124
.
2.
Ingham
 
E.
and
Fisher
 
J.
,
2000
, “
Biological reactions to wear debris in total joint replacement
,”
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part H-Journal of Engineering in Medicine
, Vol.
214
, pp.
21
–
37
.
3.
McGee
 
M. A.
,
Howie
 
D. W.
,
Costi
 
K.
,
Haynes
 
D. R.
,
Wildenauer
 
C. I.
,
Pearcy
 
M. J.
and
McLean
 
J. D.
,
2000
, “
Implant retrieval studies of the wear and loosening of prosthetic joints: a review
,”
Wear
, Vol.
241
, pp.
158
–
165
.
4.
Revell
 
P. A.
,
Alsaffar
 
N.
and
Kobayashi
 
A.
,
1997
, “
Biological reaction to debris in relation to joint prostheses
,”
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part H-Journal of Engineering in Medicine
, Vol.
211
, pp.
187
–
197
.
5.
Charnley
 
J.
,
1960
, “
Anchorage of the Femoral Head Prosthesis to the Shaft of the Femur
,”
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-British Volume
, Vol.
42
, pp.
28
–
30
.
6.
Cales, B., 2000, “Zirconia as a sliding material - Histologic, laboratory, and clinical data,” Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Vol. pp. 94–112.
7.
Katti
 
K. S.
,
2004
, “
Biomaterials in total joint replacement
,”
Colloids and Surfaces B-Biointerfaces
, Vol.
39
, pp.
133
–
142
.
8.
Willmann
 
G.
,
1998
, “
Ceramics for total hip replacement - What a surgeon should know
,”
Orthopedics
, Vol.
21
, pp.
173
–
177
.
9.
Chandrasekaran
 
M.
and
Loh
 
N. L.
,
2001
, “
Effect of counterface on the tribology of UHMWPE in the presence of proteins
,”
Wear
, Vol.
250
, pp.
237
–
241
.
10.
Mazzucco, D. and Spector, M., 2004, “The John Charnley Award Paper - The role of joint fluid in the tribology of total joint arthroplasty,” Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Vol. pp. 17–32.
11.
Nakanishi
 
Y.
,
Murakami
 
T.
,
Higaki
 
H.
and
Miyagawa
 
H.
,
1999
, “
Influence of synovial fluid constituents on the wear of cobalt-chromiummolybdenum alloy for metal-on-metal joint prostheses
,”
JSME International Journal, Series C: Mechanical Systems, Machine Elements and Manufacturing
, Vol.
42
, pp.
481
–
486
.
12.
Sawae
 
Y.
,
Murakami
 
T.
and
Chen
 
J.
,
1998
, “
Effect of synovia constituents on friction and wear of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene sliding against prosthetic joint materials
,”
Wear
, Vol.
216
, pp.
213
–
219
.
13.
Swann
 
D. A.
,
1987
, “
Biochemistry of the vitreous
,”
Bulletin de la Societe belge d’ophtalmologie
, Vol.
223
Pt
1
, pp.
59
–
72
.
14.
Widmer
 
M. R.
,
Heuberger
 
M.
,
Voros
 
J.
and
Spencer
 
N. D.
,
2001
, “
Influence of polymer surface chemistry on frictional properties under protein-lubrication conditions: implications for hip-implant design
,”
Tribology Letters
, Vol.
10
, pp.
111
–
116
.
15.
Heuberger
 
M. P.
,
Widmer
 
M. R.
,
Zobeley
 
E.
,
Glockshuber
 
R.
and
Spencer
 
N. D.
,
2005
, “
Proteinmediated boundary lubrication in arthroplasty
,”
Biomaterials
, Vol.
26
, pp.
1165
–
1173
. FIELD Reference Number: FIELD Journal Code:8100316 FIELD Call Number:.
16.
Kurtz
 
S. M.
,
Muratoglu
 
O. K.
,
Evans
 
M.
and
Edidin
 
A. A.
,
1999
, “
Advances in the processing, sterilization, and crosslinking of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene for total joint arthroplasty
,”
Biomaterials
, Vol.
20
, pp.
1659
–
1688
.
17.
Bellare
 
A.
and
Cohen
 
R. E.
,
1996
, “
Morphology of rod stock and compression moulded sheets of ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene used in orthopaedic implants
,”
Biomaterials
, Vol.
17
, pp.
2325
–
2333
.
18.
Ho
 
S. P.
,
Riester
 
L.
,
Drews
 
M.
,
Boland
 
T.
and
LaBerge
 
M.
,
2003
, “
Nanoindentation properties of compression-moulded ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
,”
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part H-Journal of Engineering in Medicine
, Vol.
217
, pp.
357
–
366
.
19.
Enachescu
 
M.
,
van den Oetelaar
 
R. J. A.
,
Carpick
 
R. W.
,
Ogletree
 
D. F.
,
Flipse
 
C. F. J.
and
Salmeron
 
M.
,
1998
, “
Atomic force microscopy study of an ideally hard contact: The diamond(111) tungsten carbide interface
,”
Physical Review Letters
, Vol.
81
, pp.
1877
–
1880
.
20.
Torii
 
A.
,
Sasaki
 
M.
,
Hane
 
K.
and
Okuma
 
S.
,
1996
, “
A method for determining the spring constant of cantilevers for atomic force microscopy
,”
Measurement Science & Technology
, Vol.
7
, pp.
179
–
184
.
21.
Bhushan, B., 1999, Handbook of micro/nano tribology, CRC Press, Boca Raton
22.
Ruan
 
J.-A.
and
Bhushan
 
B.
,
1994
, “
Atomic-scale friction measurements using friction-force microscopy. Part I. General principles and new measurement techniques
,”
Journal of Tribology
, Vol.
116
, pp.
378
–
388
.
23.
Oliver
 
W. C.
and
Pharr
 
G. M.
,
1992
, “
An Improved Technique for Determining Hardness and Elastic-Modulus Using Load and Displacement Sensing Indentation Experiments
,”
Journal of Materials Research
, Vol.
7
, pp.
1564
–
1583
.
24.
Turell
 
M. B.
and
Bellare
 
A.
,
2004
, “
A study of the nanostructure and tensile properties of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
,”
Biomaterials
, Vol.
25
, pp.
3389
–
3398
.
25.
Carpick
 
R. W.
and
Salmeron
 
M.
,
1997
, “
Scratching the surface: Fundamental investigations of tribology with atomic force microscopy
,”
Chemical Reviews
, Vol.
97
, pp.
1163
–
1194
.
26.
Carpick
 
R. W.
,
Ogletree
 
D. F.
and
Salmeron
 
M.
,
1999
, “
A general equation for fitting contact area and friction vs load measurements
,”
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
, Vol.
211
, pp.
395
–
400
.
27.
Johnson
 
K. L.
,
Kendall
 
K.
and
Roberts
 
A. D.
,
1971
, “
Surface Energy and Contact of Elastic Solids
,”
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series a-Mathematical and Physical Sciences
, Vol.
324
, pp.
301
301
.
28.
Derjaguin
 
B. V.
,
Muller
 
V. M.
and
Toporov
 
Y. P.
,
1975
, “
Effect of Contact Deformations on Adhesion of Particles
,”
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
, Vol.
53
, pp.
314
–
326
.
29.
Maugis
 
D.
,
1992
, “
Adhesion of Spheres - the Jkr-Dmt Transition Using a Dugdale Model
,”
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
, Vol.
150
, pp.
243
–
269
.
30.
Park
 
K. D.
,
Kim
 
J.
,
Yang
 
S. J.
,
Yao
 
A.
and
Park
 
J. B.
,
2003
, “
Preliminary study of interfacial shear strength between PMMA precoated UHMWPE acetabular cup and PMMA bone cement
,”
Journal of biomedical materials research, Part B: Applied Biomaterials
, Vol.
65B
, pp.
272
–
279
.
31.
Gracias
 
D. H.
and
Somorjai
 
G. A.
,
1998
, “
Continuum force microscopy study of the elastic modulus, hardness and friction of polyethylene and polypropylene surfaces
,”
Macromolecules
, Vol.
31
, pp.
1269
–
1276
.
32.
Norde
 
W.
and
Giacomelli
 
C. E.
,
2000
, “
BSA structural changes during homomolecular exchange between the adsorbed and the dissolved states
,”
Journal of Biotechnology
, Vol.
79
, pp.
259
–
268
.
33.
Ying
 
P.
,
Yu
 
Y.
,
Jin
 
G.
and
Tao
 
Z.
,
2003
, “
Competitive protein adsorption studied with atomic force microscopy and imaging ellipsometry
,”
Colloids and Surfaces, B: Biointerfaces
, Vol.
32
, pp.
1
–
10
.
34.
Good
 
V. D.
,
Clarke
 
I. C.
,
Gustafson
 
G. A.
,
Downs
 
B.
,
Anissian
 
L.
and
Sorensen
 
K.
,
2000
, “
Wear of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene in a hip simulator - A dose response study of protein concentration
,”
Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica
, Vol.
71
, pp.
365
–
369
.
35.
Cooper
 
J. R.
,
Dowson
 
D.
and
Fisher
 
J.
,
1993
, “
The effect of transfer film and surface roughness on the ear of lubricated ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
,”
Clinical Materials
, Vol.
14
, pp.
295
–
302
.
36.
Kernick
 
M.
and
Allen
 
C.
,
1997
, “
The sliding wear of UHMWPE against zirconia in saline containing proteins
,”
Wear
, Vol.
203
, pp.
537
–
543
.
37.
Yui
 
N.
,
Suzuki
 
Y.
,
Mori
 
H.
and
Terano
 
M.
,
1995
, “
Surface-Properties of Polypropylene Films as Biomaterials
,”
Polymer Journal
, Vol.
27
, pp.
614
–
622
.
38.
Sundararajan
 
S.
and
Bhushan
 
B.
,
2000
, “
Topography-induced contributions to friction forces measured using an atomic force/friction force microscope
,”
Journal of Applied Physics
, Vol.
88
, pp.
4825
–
4831
.
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 2006
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.