Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

Fall 1-31-1999

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Taiming Chu

Second Advisor

Ian Sanford Fischer

Third Advisor

Rong-Yaw Chen

Abstract

The total knee replacement systems (TKRS) are used for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Excessive wear can substantially shorten their life span.

Two tests were performed to examine the wear characteristics of tibial bearings used in TKRS. Each test consisted of six sets of Anterior/Posterior Glide Tibial Bearings each with a conical control arm. The tibial bearings were all made by UHMWPE. Three of these bearings were mounted onto a Co-Cr alloy tibial platform and Co-Cr alloy LCS® femoral component. Another three sets of bearings were mounted onto a TiN tibial platform and TiN LCS® femoral component. They were put into New Jersey Mark III Knee Simulator System. The simulator was configured to produce flexion-extension and axial rotation to simulate the normal walking gait. The tests were run at L6 Hz. Distilled water was used as lubrication fluid.

The test results show that the loading conditions and femoral component geometry play very critical roles. However, due to the machine problems, contamination of cooling-lubricating system, other factors related to loading conditions and femoral component geometry, the wear characteristics of the tested systems cannot be determined. In light of this test, the New Jersey Mark III Knee Simulator mechanical design and control systems need to be reviewed and corrected.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.