Polymerization From Ethylene Gas to UHMWPE Powder

The polymerization of UHMWPE was commercialized by Ruhrchemie AG, based in northern Germany, during the 1950s. Ruhrchemie AG itself evolved in 1928 with the mission of developing useful chemicals from coal (carbon) its shareholders consisted of 28 coal mining companies. In 1953, chemists from 

Requirements for Medical Grade UHMWPE Powders (per ASTM F648 and ISO 5834-1) 

Currently Ticona (Oberhausen, Germany) produces a Type 1 and Type 2 resin with the trade names of GUR 1020 and 1050, respectively. Before 2002, Basell Polyolefins (Wilmington, DE) produced a Type 3 resin with the 1900 trade name. This resin was discontinued in January 2002 and is no longer produced. Two orthopedic manufacturers have maintained large stockpiles of this resin. Therefore, orthopedic implants will continue to be fabricated from tiiis resin, af least in the near future. 

The orthopedics literature contains numerous references to different trade names for UHMWPE, which fall into two categories 1) GUR resins currently produced by Ticona and 2) the 1900 resins, previously produced by Basell. The UHMWPE grades currently used in the orthopedic industry are summarized in Table 2.2. 

Hoechst changed its resin nomenclature between 1992 and 1998. Resins distributed to both the general and orthopedic marketplaces before 1992 were designated as, for example, GUR 415, and GUR 412 in the United States, or CHIRULEN P in Europe. In October 1992, a fourth digit was added to all general and orthopedic products to allow inclusion of additional resins to the product lines. For example, GUR 415 became GUR 4150. In 1994, after the 

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