Long-term results for Kinemax and Kinematic knee bearings on a six-station knee wear simulator

Abstract

A long-term wear test was performed on Kinemax and Kinematic (Howmedica Inc.) knee bearings on the Durham six-station knee wear simulator. The bearings were subjected to flexion/extension of 65–0°, anterior-posterior translation of between 4.5 and 8.5 mm and a maximum axial load of 3 kN. Passive abduction/adduction and internal/external rotation were also permitted, however, two of the stations had a linkage system which produced ± 5° active internal/external rotation. The bearings were tested at 37 °C in a 30 per cent bovine serum solution and the test was run to 5.6 × 106 cycles. The bearings from stations 2 and 3, and stations 4 and 5 were swapped during the test to investigate the effects of interstation variability. The average wear rate and standard error was 3.00 ± 0.98 mg/106 cycles (range 1.33-4.72 mg/106 cycles) for the Kinemax bearings and 3.78 ± 1.04 mg/106 cycles (range 1.87-4.89 mg/106 cycles) for the Kinematic bearings. There were no significant differences in wear rates between the different bearing designs, the addition of active internal/external rotation or a change of stations. However, the wear tracks were different for the two types of bearings and with active internal/external rotation. The wear rates and factors were generally lower than previously published in vitro wear results; however, this may have been due to a difference in the axial loads and lubricants used. The appearance of the wear tracks with active internal/external rotation was comparable with those seen on explanted knee bearings.