Biocomposite

With the increase in longevity of succeeding of generations has come the need to develop reliable joint prostheses. It would be ideal if we could replace damaged joint with auto or allograft. Until that dream becomes a reality, we would have to depend on man-made materials to maintain ADL as we grow older. Artificial joint replacement has revolutionised many lives and the practice of orthopaedics. However, there are still nagging problems with mismatch of elastic moduli, interfacial stability etc. So far, we have mainly depended on cement fixation for implant stability. Then came the  idea of bioactive fixation. Example of this technique is the use of uncemented hydroxyapatite coated femoral stem in THR. But this has not resulted in greatly increased implant survivality; it still does not address the issues of elastic moduli mis-match, wear debris reaction. This is where biocomposites come to the scene. The advantage of a composite material is that we can combine the desirable properties of two metals and control mechanical properties.

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