Hydroxyapatite Coating Improves Bone Integration and Interface Strength of Polymer Implants in Bone

Abstract:

Many attempts had been made to improve the durability of artificial joint replacement and other orthopaedic implants by approaching the mechanical properties of bone and artificial material. The most joint prostheses used today are manufactured of metal alloys based on cobalt, chromium or titanium. The mechanical stiffness of these materials is much higher than that of natural bone resulting in adverse effects such as local overloading on one hand or stress shielding phenomena with the lack of adequate mechanical load on the other. Both mechanisms contribute to earl loosening and failure of implants. Polymer materials may deliver mechanical properties very similar to bone and their mechanical behaviour may be modified in a wide range during the process of manufacturing. First attempts to lower the stiffness of the implant material and to gain the stiffness range of natural bone were made in the seventies by R. Matthys with his concept of “isoelastic hip prosthesis”. In this prosthesis the femoral stem was manufactured of polyacetal, a thermoplastic polymer with very good biocompatibility and elastic properties which are much nearer to bone than common metal alloys. While the prosthesis showed good results during the mechanical testing the clinical use in vivo became a disaster. Shortly after implantation polyacetal was degraded in the body and broke down under the immense loading of the human hip joint. Later attempts to use polymer materials alone for load bearing implants also failed in clinical practice over a long time because the mechanical interlocking between bone and implant was not sufficient for the biological demand. To make the outstanding properties of polymer materials useable for load bearing implants they are backed with metal alloys (as polyethylene for hip joint cups) until the presence. Only recent developments of polymer science succeeded in the use of polymers for loaded implants. One of the most interesting materials seems to be the polyetheretherketone (PEEK) which is successfully used for spinal fusion cages [2] and computerdesigned individual implants for defect reconstruction in the skull [4] meanwhile. A pre-clinical study of a new anatomically shaped flexible acetabular cup reported satisfactory results recently [3].