Wear of Total Hip Replacements (THR) has been identified as one of the major causes of osteolysis, and consequently, implant failure. ASTM F1714 ‘Standard Guide for Gravimetric Wear Assessment of Prosthetic Hip Designs in Simulator Devices’ was developed to evaluate the wear properties of ceramic and polymeric materials used as bearing surfaces in hip joint replacement prostheses. It represents a more physiological simulation than basic wear-screening tests such as pin or ring-on-disk. To conform to ASTM requirements, hip wear simulators must use two specimens: one test specimen and one control specimen. This strategy is necessary to eliminate possible errors due to fluid absorption into the specimen or those associated with creep of the bearing materials.
We suggest using our Dual-Station™ ASTM hip simulator, which incorporates the gravimetric method as per the ASTM standard. It provides an accurate and cost-effective solution for four degrees-of-freedom hip wear simulation and is offered as an accessory for the 8874 Axial-Torsional Testing System. The dual-station design also enables simultaneous testing of both specimens, a solution whose simplicity and flexibility is unmatched. Without dual-station capability, both specimens must either be tested in series, taking more than four months to complete a single test or occupy two testing systems in parallel.
The system applies physiologically accurate loads and motions in axial flexion-extension, abduction-adduction, and internal-external rotation on a test specimen maintained under in vivo conditions. You can enable easy system control through our user-friendly interfaces and fatigue software.
The 8874 is a versatile testing system that, in addition to the long-term wear simulation tests, can be easily reconfigured to accommodate a full range of other biomechanical tests.