Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard Medical School
Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hosp.
VA Boston Healthcare System
2.79J/3.96J/BE.441/HST522J
BIOMATERIALS FOR JOINT
REPLACEMENT
M. Spector, Ph.D. and I.V. Yannas, Ph.D.
http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/2/fa02/2.79j
TISSUES COMPRISING JOINTS
Permanent Regeneration
Prosthesis Scaffold
Bone Yes Yes
Articular cartilage No Yes*
Meniscus No Yes*
Ligaments No Yes*
Synovium No No
* In the process of being developed
JOINT REPLACEMENT PROSTHESES
? Fit
– Anatomy
? Function
– Kinematics; Range of Motion
? Fixation
– Bone cement, bone interdigitation with an irregular
surface, bone ingrowth into a porous coating
? Tribology
– Friction, Wear, and Lubrication
? Other Effects
– Stress Shielding
Bone Cement
Self-Curing Polymethylmethacrylate
Images removed due to
copyright considerations.
Images removed due to
copyright considerations.Porous Coatings for Bone Ingrowth
Images removed due to
copyright considerations.Porous Coated Tibial Component
JOINT REPLACEMENT PROSTHESES
? Fit
– Anatomy
? Function
– Kinematics; Range of Motion
? Fixation
? Tribology
– Friction, Wear, and Lubrication
– Cell response to particulate wear debris
? Other Effects
– Stress Shielding
PROGRESSION OF OSTEOLYSIS:
“HYLAMER” CUP
Image removed due to copyright considerations.
Why Artificial Joints Fail
Image removed due to copyright considerations
Spice, Byron. “Particle Disease Seen As Plague on Total Joint
Replacement” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
J. Charnley, 1979
Photo removed due to copyright considerations
PROSTHESIS WEAR
Particles
Bone Resorption
(Osteolysis)
Macrophage
(15-25μm)
IL-1
PGE
2
Enzymes
Chemoattractants
MACROPHAGE RESPONSE
TO PARTICLES
BONE
Osteoclast
precursor cells
Osteoclast
Osteoblasts
POLYETHYLENE WEAR
PARTICLES
H. McKellop, 1994 Hip Society
The number of particles generated by a hip
prosthesis
7 x 10
11
particles/yr.
700,000 particles/step
NUMBER OF INHALED PARTICLES
Avg. particle burden of urban atmosphere:
10
5
particles/liter
Respired volume in man = 1 liter/min.
Therefore, 10
5
particles are inhaled/min.
10% of the inhaled particles are deposited in the
lungs.
Therefore, 10
4
particles are deposited in the lungs
per min.
5 x 10
9
particles/yr.
Titanium Wear
Debris
Images removed due to
copyright considerations
Co-Cr Particles
CELL RESPONSE TO METAL
PARTICLES
? Macrophages in vitro
? Particles of Ti alloy not toxic; Co-Cr highly toxic
? Ti induced more release of PGE
2
than Co-Cr
? Exp. to Ti increased the release of PGE
2
, IL-1, TNF,
and IL-6; exp. to Co-Cr decreased release of PGE
2
and IL-6 and had little effect on IL-1 and TNF
? “release of Ti....worse than....Co-Cr”
D.R. Haynes, et al.,
JBJS 75-A: 825 (1993)
CELL RESPONSE TO METAL
PARTICLES
? Bovine articular chondrocytes
? Co was toxic to cells at all conc.
? At high conc. Cr, Ti, and Ti alloy were toxic
? At high conc. all metals decreased enzyme
activity
? PGE
2
increased with conc., except for Ti alloy
W.J. Maloney, et al.,
J. Appl. Biomat. 5: 109 (1994)
BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO
METAL PARTICLES AND IONS
Summary
? Metal particles and ions are released from TJR
prostheses; the amounts can be reduced by careful
design and manufacturing.
? Cellular response to metal particles has some of the
same elements as the response to particles of other
materials.
? No indication yet that metal particles and ions are
responsible for profound adverse responses.
Drainage of Particles by the Lymphatics
Image removed due to copyright considerations
H. Willert, et al.
SMALL PARTICLE DISEASE:
LYMPHADENOPATHY
? Enlargement of the node
? Particles drained from tissue by the
lymphatic system are phagocytosed by
macrophages in the nodes
– histiocytes derived from cells that line the
sinuses of the node and macrophages derived
from circulating monocytes
? Sinus histiocytosis
? No adverse clinical sequelae yet noted
MIGRATION OF PARTICLES AND
CELLULAR RESPONSES
BLOOD
VESSEL
Macrophage
Histiocyte
Tissue-
Resident,
Tissue-Fixed
Phagocyte
Fusion
Maturation
M-CSF
Monocyte
Migration
Fusion
PROSTHESIS
Particles
>10μm
Multinucleated Foreign Body
Giant Cell
(less active than macrophages)
Bone Resorbing Agents
PGE
2
, IL-1
Micromotion
Particles
<10μm
LYMPHATIC
VESSEL
BONE
RESORPTION
Activation
Particles
Lymph Node
Particles (PE)
from the joint
Lymphadenopathy
Images removed due to copyright considerations
METAL SENSITIVITY IN PATIENTS
? 10-15% of population have dermal sensitivity to metal
(14% to Ni)
? Metal ions bind to proteins to form immunogenic
complexes
? Metals known as sensitizers:
– Ni > Co and Cr >>> Ti and V
? 60% of pts. with failed TJRs were metal sensitive vs.
25% with well-functioning implants
– Did metal sensitivity cause failure or did the failed
implant cause metal sensitivity?
Hallab, Merritt, Jacobs,
JBJS 83-A:428 (2001)
METAL SENSITIVITY IN PATIENTS
? “May exist as an extreme complication in only
a few highly susceptible patients (< 1%), or it
may be a more common subtle contributor to
implant failure.”
? “It is likely that cases involving implant-related
metal sensitivity have been underreported
because of the difficulty of diagnosis.”
? Patients who have displayed sensitivity to metal
jewelry are at higher risk.
Hallab, Merritt, Jacobs,
JBJS 83-A:428 (2001)
JOINT REPLACEMENT PROSTHESES
? Fit
– Anatomy
? Function
– Kinematics; Range of Motion
? Fixation
? Tribology
– Friction, Wear, and Lubrication
? Other Effects
– Stress Shielding
Bone (Trabecular) Structure
Osteoporotic:
Postmenopausal
Normal
Images removed due to copyright considerations
Bone Loss Under the Femoral Component
of a Total Knee Replacement Prosthesis:
Stress Shielding
1 year post-op
Image removed due to
copyright considerations
Image removed due to
copyright considerations
Total Knee Replacement
Prosthesis
Knee Joint
Bone
Co-Cr Alloy
Art. Cart.
Bone
Image removed due to copyright considerations Image removed due to copyright considerations
Polyethylene
Ligament
Meniscus
Bone
Bone
TISSUES COMPRISING JOINTS
Permanent Regeneration
Prosthesis Scaffold
Bone Yes Yes
Articular cartilage No Yes*
Meniscus No Yes*
Ligaments Failed Yes*
Synovium No No
* In the process of being developed
LIGAMENT DEVICES
Prosthesis
? Does not require an autograft for support
? Sufficient strength for immediate stabilization
? Do not rely on intra-articular healing to
augment strength
Augmentation Device
? Acts as mechanical support to reinforce
autograft to increase initial strength
? Load sharing with graft tissue to prevent stress
shielding
LIGAMENT REPLACEMENT AND
AUGMENTATION DEVICES
Issues
? Strength
? Load-deformation
? Insertion site integrity
? Tensioning
LIGAMENT PROSTHESES
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
1960 Emery & Rostrup Teflon tube; fraying in
tunnel
1969 Gupta and Brinker Dacron cord/rubber coat;
fragmentation
1973 James, et al. Proplast; breakage
1977 Polyethylene; breakage
1978 Jenkins Carbon fibers;
fragmentation; migration to
lymph nodes
SYNTHETIC LIGAMENTS
Device Material Indication
Prostheses
Gore-Tex PTFE (Teflon) Failed intra-art.
reconstruction
Stryker Dacron Failed intra-art.
reconstruction
Augmentation Device
Kennedy Polypropylene Augmentation of
autograft ACL
Polyethylene Fiber Braid:
Canine Model
Images removed due to copyright considerations
Image removed due to copyright considerations
Olson, Eric J. et al. “The biochemical and histological effects of artificial ligament wear particles:
In vitro and in vivo studies.” American Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 16 no. 6 (1988).
LIGAMENT PROSTHESES
? Wear/fraying occurs
? Wear particles of all synthetic ligaments
elicit production of inflammatory agents
JOINT REPLACEMENT PROSTHESES
? Fit
– Anatomy
? Function
– Kinematics; Range of Motion
? Fixation
– Bone cement, bone interdigitation with an irregular
surface, bone ingrowth into a porous coating
? Tribology
– Friction, Wear, and Lubrication
– Cell response to particulate wear debris
? Other Effects
– Stress Shielding