Tribology of Short Stem Total Hip Replacement (T.H.R)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Prof. Dr., Professor of Orthopedic Surgery Ain -Shams University.

Abstract

Abstract:
Tribology is a science concerning with friction, lubrication and wear of
rubbing surfaces. The basic concepts of Tribology include friction,
lubrication, wear, radial clearance, sphericity, head diameter and
materials. Friction is the resistance of sliding between two materials in
contact with each other; Friction includes surface and bulk friction.
Lubrication effectively reduces the wear between bearing surfaces and
includes 3 types: boundary, mixed and fluid film lubrication. Lambda ratio
is the ratio between fluid film thickness and surface roughness. Wear is a
progressive removal of material from prosthesis in the form of particulate
debris and measured either as the mass or volume of material per unit time.
Materials used in THA offer the best high performance bearing. Knowledge
of tribological principles allows surgeon to choose the best performance
bearings to optimize the function and maximize the survival ship of the hip
prosthesis they applied to different patien ts .