Certain polyethylene-lined hips may last longer than others

The DePuy Marathon total hip, made with a highly cross-linked polyethylene liner Researchers in New Zealand found that artificial hip liners made of highly-cross-linked polyethylene showed less wear 10 years after implantation than liners made of conventional ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Patients whose hip liners were made of highly cross-linked polyethylene also had a significantly lower prevalence of osteolysis and revision surgery, according to a report in Orthopedics Today. That’s because cross-linking ties molecules together in a lattice-like matrix, Larry Wallace, senior staff scientist at Spectrum Plastics Group, told Medical Design & Outsourcing. The structure of regular high-density polyethylene is crystalline, Wallace told us. Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing. The post Certain polyethylene-lined hips may last longer than others appeared first on MassDevice.
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Blog Implants Orthopedics Research & Development depuysynthes Source Type: news