Highly Crosslinked and Thermally Stabilized UHMWPE

UHMWPE was introduced as a total hip bearing surface. The high wear resistance of highly crosslinked UHMWPE offers the possibility of avoiding osteolysis related to the accumulation of wear particles. 

In the next section, we first briefly review the historical experience of highly crosslinked UHMWPE for hip replacement and summarize the general characteristics of contemporary materials in current clinical use. The next section also describes the effect of thermal treatment on the properties of fhis family of materials. In the final part of this section, we summarize the latest short-term clinical results using highly crosslinked and thermally treated UHMWPE. For more detailed information about specific highly crosslinked formulafions, see Chapter 15. 

Historical Clinical Experience with Highly Crosslinked UHMWPE 

Contemporary Highly Crosslinked and Thermally Treated UHMWPEs 

Route for production that includes a proprietary combination of three important steps. 

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This chapter first summarizes MOM and COC alternative bearing designs and some of the unique risks associated with their use. The history of MOM bearings is particularly noteworthy, because it predates the use of UHMWPE in artificial hip joints. We also review the use of ceramics as a counter face in articulations with UHMWPE. For all practical purposes, however, highly crosslinked UHMWPE remains the most widely used alternative to conventional UHMWPE in orthopedics today. Thus, this chapter also summarizes the development of highly crosslinked and thermally stabilized UHMWPE and describes the characteristics of the most prevalent alternative to conventional UHMWPE in joint arthroplasty. 

Clinical introduction of first-generation highly crosslinked and thermally stabilized UHMWPEs forTHA. 

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