In total hip replacement, a diseased joint is replaced with a prosthesis. Annually, millions of operations are carried out worldwide. The prostheses may last 20 years. In 10-15 % of the cases, the prosthesis fails prematurely, necessitating a revision operation, the results of which are usually poor. Wear, dislocation and metallosis are common causes for the reoperations. In so-called retrieval studies, prostheses removed from patients at reoperations are scrutinized to obtain in-depth knowledge of the failure mechanisms. Two topical failure mechanisms are the fracture of crosslinked polyethylene acetabular liners and the wear of the taper connection of the modular femoral head. Both can be studied effectively with the 12-station hip joint simulator of Aalto University. In this project, both retrieval and hip joint simulator studies are carried out to solve the problems of liner fracture and taper wear. The results can be utilized by the orthopaedic industry and orthopaedic surgeons.

2023

2027