Comment from Mr Johnson on BBC news item

Author: David P Johnson     Date: 9/15/2003

"I read with interest the news article on BBC News online dated Saturday 13 September 2003 entitled "Slippery solution to broken hips"."

"I read with interest the news article on BBC News online dated Saturday 13 September 2003 entitled "Slippery solution to broken hips". This article suggested a new polymer surface coating which would give a ceramic like coating to the artificial joint and thereby reduce the fraction and wear in the artificial joints. The scientists suggested that this work was at an early stage and it would be many years before this would be available to patients.

However, such technology is already available with the Oxinium total knee replacement. This uses a revolutionary new metallic component with a ceramic articulating surface. The material is an alloy of zirconium which is a metal very close to titanium on the elemental table. The surface of the zirconium implant is then treated with oxygen under pressure which changes the surface into a ceramic. This has been shown to reduce the friction in total knee replacement by 85% and it is envisaged that the total knee replacements will as a consequence last 20-25 years."

Read the BBC article

Link: More BBC news

more news + top

© The Bristol Orthopaedics and Sports Injuries Clinic 2003. The Bristol Knee Clinic is a trading name of the Bristol Orthopaedic Clinic Ltd. privacy / copyright | contact | Powered By Create Medical