Tribology of Hip Joint Replacement BT - European Surgical Orthopaedics and Traumatology: The EFORT Textbook

Abstract

Basic principles of tribology are reviewed, with particular reference to applications to studies of friction, wear and lubrication of artificial hip joints. Different bearing combinations are discussed, including soft-on-hard (polymer-on-metal or ceramic) and hard-on-hard (metal-on-metal, ceramic-on-ceramic and ceramic-on-metal). The importance of tribological principles in design and optimisation of artificial hip joints to reduce wear is demonstrated.