Premium
Three‐dimensional laser micrometry characterization of surface wear in total hip arthroplasty
Author(s) -
Kohm Andrew,
Gaumer Jeremy,
Ravula Vishnu,
Urban Robert,
Gilbertson Les,
Bos Gary,
Dey Tamal,
Nelson Laura,
Dyce Jonathan,
Lannutti John
Publication year - 2007
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.30748
Subject(s) - materials science , laser , micrometer , cubic zirconia , surface (topology) , point cloud , biomedical engineering , optics , composite material , computer science , computer vision , geometry , mathematics , medicine , ceramic , physics
Even after decades of clinical use, our ability to quantify wear across total hip replacement implant surfaces is largely limited to single value measurements. The influence of patient factors on wear remains enigmatic. This pilot study for the development of three‐dimensional laser micrometry (3DLM) introduces an easy, accurate means of ‘mapping’ and quantifying material removal. A three‐dimensional laser micrometer was constructed using a laser micrometer having an accuracy of 0.5 μm. A 3D surface map is triangulated from a point cloud consisting of ∼140,000 individual points. Comparison to a reference sphere determines radial wear over the entire surface. 3DLM was able to map and quantify fine scale surface features. Even for zirconia on relatively soft ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene, this technique maps the contributions of localized wear at the macroscopic level. The 0.5 μm (or greater) accuracy of these lasers allows us to image surfaces with a high degree of confidence. This analysis lends itself well to automation, and we anticipate that this advance will prove valuable in establishing that each head and cup combination emerging from a given clinical environment has unique wear patterns as observed in this trial data set. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2007