Ceramic/Ceramic Wear Couple
Minimal wear suggests that a longer implant life is a real possibility
In a ceramic/ceramic (BIOLOX®forte/BIOLOX®forte)
wear couple, in which both the ball head and the cup insert are made of ceramic, the
wear rate and consequently the risk of early implant loosening is the lowest of all
available material combinations. Investigations show that the wear is less than 0.005 mm
per year. It is therefore up to 100 times less than for a metal/polyethylene wear couple.
Laboratory studies using hip simulators even report wear values less than 0.001 mm per year.
This represents a wear rate roughly 200 times smaller than that obtained with metal/polyethylene.
On account of this very low wear rate, the wear behaviour is practically independent of the size
of the ceramic ball head used.
Specially suited for younger and more active patients
A ceramic wear couple is particularly beneficial for younger and more active patients, whose higher activity level places higher demands on the materials used. On the other hand, a wear couple containing polyethylene can lead to an increased risk of osteolysis and early implant loosening.
In vivo wear rate study by Greenwald and Garino
In vivo linear wear rate for different wear couples: BIOLOX®forte/BIOLOX®forte had the lowest rate of all.
Source: Elke R. Particle Disease: Status and Todays Solution. Garino J, Willmann G. Bioceramics in Joint Arthroplasty.
Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart, New York 2002: 3
Hip simulator testing of BIOLOX®forte
1)1 million cycles corresponds to the average number of steps taken by a patient in one year
These conclusions are based on scientific articles and medical publications.