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Advanced nanocomposite materials for orthopaedic applications. I. A long‐term in vitro wear study of zirconia‐toughened alumina
Author(s) -
Affatato S.,
Torrecillas R.,
Taddei P.,
Rocchi M.,
Fagnano C.,
Ciapetti G.,
Toni A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.30462
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , cubic zirconia , composite material , ceramic , flexural strength , fracture toughness , polyethylene , microstructure , toughness
The use of ceramic‐on‐ceramic (alumina‐ and zirconia‐based) couplings in hip joint prostheses has been reported to produce lower wear rates than other combinations (i.e., metal‐on‐polyethylene and ceramic‐on‐polyethylene). The addition of zirconia into an alumina matrix (zirconia‐toughened alumina, ZTA) has been reported to result in an enhancement of flexural strength, fracture toughness, and fatigue resistance. The development of new processing routes in nonaqueous media has allowed to obtain high‐density ZTA nanocomposites with a very homogeneous microstructure and a significantly smaller and narrower particle‐size distribution of zirconia than conventional powder mixing methods. The aim of the present study was to set up and validate a new ZTA nanocomposite by testing its biocompatibility and wear behavior in a hip‐joint simulator in comparison with commercial alumina and experimental alumina specimens. The primary osteoblast proliferation onto ZTA nanocomposite samples was found to be not significantly different from that onto commercial alumina samples. After 7 million cycles, no significant differences were observed between the wear behaviors of the three sets of cups. In this light, it can be affirmed that ZTA nanocomposite materials can offer the option of improving the lifetime and reliability of ceramic joint prostheses. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2006