Hip Arthroplasty Biomaterials – A Technical Update(A review paper)

Total Hip prosthesis replacement is one of successful invasive procedures in medical history. Hip joint replacement started by Sir John charnley by using of low friction artificial joint on 1960s. Subsequently bearing material, fixation methods and new designs were defined and modified. The main concerns about THA are biological response due to particles produced by bearing surfaces that lead to Osteolysis and prosthesis loosening. Modern THA biomaterials were developed to remedy this problem.

A journal research strategy was performed using different terms. The highest quality technical articles and reports were selected that included the best and newest related contents. Key search words were hip, biomaterial, wear, titanium, zirconia, alumina, UHMWPE and CO-Cr. Finally 69 sources were chosen and used in this review.

Recent advances in hip prostheses have focused on mechanical strength, biocompatibility, bioactivity, increasing wear resistance and reliability using new technologies, as well as structure modification and nanotechnology hybridization. A hybrid design in nano-ceramics has increased resistance up to four times that of alumina, allowing for a smaller femoral head. The prosthesis stability, longer life, and reliability are needed due to the increase in young patients who need hip arthroplasty with higher activity levels, which can be achieved with scientific methods and newly improved materials.

This study introduces the biomaterials used in hip joint prostheses and discussed them from different aspects. In addition, more advanced biomaterials for THA have also been investigated to further reduce wear and increase the life of the prosthesis in the future.