Electrochemical Instrumentation of a Hip Simulator: A New Tool for Assessing the Role of Corrosion in Metal-On-Metal Hip Joints

Polyethylene wear debris induced osteolysis has triggered investigations to find alternative material combinations to the well-established metal-on-polyethylene hip implants. Owing to some early successful clinical cases, metal-on-metal (MoM) hip replacements have been attracting more and more interest. There is, however, considerable concern about the propensity of MoM hip replacements to release metal ions and fine, nanometre-scale metallic wear debris. The long-term effect from released metal ions and wear particles is still not clear.

To date, all the work on hip simulators focused on assessing mass losses damage has been referred to as ‘wear’. However, it is known in the field of tribocorrosion that mechanical removal of the passive layer on Co—Cr alloys can significantly enhance corrosion activity. In total joint replacements, it is possible that corrosion plays a significant role. However, no one has ever tried to extract, on a hip simulator, what proportion of the damage is due to mechanical processes and the corrosion processes. This paper describes the first instrumentation of an integrated hip joint simulator to provide in-situ electrochemical measurements in real time. The open circuit potential results are reported to assess the corrosion regime in the absence and presence of movement at the bearing surfaces. The importance of these measurements is that the real damage mechanisms can be assessed as a function of the operating cycle.