Biolox

In table 11.6.3 some chemical properties of an aluminium oxide (trade name Biolox) are compared with those of some other metals. 

Table 11.6.3 Comparison of some properties of Biolox aluminium oxide with those some other metals...

Niedhart, C. and Niethard, F.U. (1998) Klinische Anforderungen an Knoch-enersatzstoffe. Proceedings of the 3rd BIOLOX Symposium, 2-1, pp. 46-50. 

Owing to an extraordinary amount of research performed, today there exist a large variety of clinical options to combine femoral heads and acetabular cups. In Europe these medical products are being marketed under the brand names BIOLOX and BIOLOX forte by CeramTec AG (Plochingen, Germany) (Clarke and Willmann, 1994 Willmann, 2002) and BIONIT by Mathys European Orthopaedics (Bettlach, Switzerland). In 2000, the market volume of ceramic femoral heads amounted to about 30 Mio DM corresponding to 90 000 pieces, 90% of which were made from alumina (see Chapter 2). 

Table 4.1 further shows essential mechanical properties of several products of CeramTec s BIOLOX family of alumina-based materials for femoral heads of hip endoprostheses as well as those of BIONIT manufactured by Mathys Orthopadie GmbH (Bettlach, Switzerland). It is evident that decreasing the grain size of the ceramic precursor powders increases both the flexural strength and the fracture toughness of the material dramatically. 

Property Alumina Alumina ISO 6474 Alumina ISO 6474/2 Biolox Biolox forte Biolox delta Bionit ... 

Figure 4.3 Microstructure of Biolox delta. 1, Alumina grains 2, Zirconia reinforcing grains and 3, Chromia elongated platelets as crack arresters. ( With permission of CeramTec GmbH, Plochingen, Germany.)...

CeramTech, A.G. (2006) BIOLOX delta — Nanoverbundwerkstoff fur die Endoprothetik, http //www.ceramtec.com/ pdf/biolox delta de.pdf (accessed 6 December 2010). 

Willmann, G. (2002) Bioceramics in Joint Arthroplasty, Proceeding of the 7th Inter-naional BIOLOX Symposium, March 15-16, 2002, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, pp. 59-64. 

The 2001 recall has not, however, dampened the general enthusiasm for ceramic materials in orthopedics. Alumina is currently the ceramic material of choice for orthopedic applications, either for articulations with UHMWPE or for use in COC alternate bearings. Starting at the end of 2002, a new alumina composite material (BIOLOX Forte CeramTec, Plochingen, Germany) has been available as a femoral head material (Merkert 2003). This ceramic composite, consisting of 75% alumina matrix, is reinforced by 25% zirconia. The improved strength of this new ceramic composite, in comparison with alumina and zirconia, is summarized in Table 6.2. Clinical studies are still needed to determine the effectiveness and reliability of this new biomaterial. 

Dobbs H. 2003. Quality improvement resulting from legal and regulatory developments. In Bioceramics in joint arthroplasU/, 8th BIOLOX symposium proceedings. H. Zipp>el and M. Dietrich, Eds. Darmstadt, Germany Steinkopff Verlag. 

Morlock M., R. Nassutt, M.A. Wimmer, and E. Schneider. 2002. Influence of resting periods on friction in artificial hip joint articulations. In Bioceramics in joint arthroplasty, proceedings of the 7th international BIOLOX symposium. J.P. Garino and G. Willmann, Eds. Stuttgart, Germany Thieme. 

Property Alumina BIOLOX(g) forte Y-TZP ZIOLOX forte Bone >... 

The reliability of ceramic femoral heads is closely related to their mechanical properties. Previously, measurement of the load to fracture of 107 explanted alumina (Biolox ) femoral ball heads did not reveal any fatigue of the material (Willmann, 1998). This can be related to the very favorable relationship between... 

Willmann, G. (1997) Wie darf man keramische Komponenten fUr Htiftendoprothesen sterilisieren. 2nd BIOLOX Symposium, CeramTec AG, Plochingen, Germany, pp. 139-141. 

Oonishi H, Kim SC, Kyomoto M, Iwamoto M, Ueno M. Comparison of In-Vivo Wear between Polyethylene Inserts articulating against Ceramic and Cobalt-Chrome Eemoral Components in Total Knee Prostheses. Bioceramics and Alternative Bearings in Joint Arthroplasty 12 BIOLOX Symposium Seoul, Republic of Korea September 7 — 8, 2007 Proceedings. 149-59. 

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