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Lubricants
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Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior
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Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior

A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2023) | Viewed by 15167

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Tarun Goswami

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering, Wright State University, 3640 Col Glen Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435, USA
Interests: medical devices; biomaterials; biomechanics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will further explore damage development in medical devices due to in vivo usage. Most implantable devices, under activities of daily living, are subjected to repeated loading and unloading cycles. Depending on their design requirements, skeletal devices are subjected to fatigue, wear, corrosion, oxidation, and other damaging processes. These devices fail prematurely as a result. Therefore, it is important that mechanisms controlling tribology are understood fully independently or in interactive mode. The majority of orthopaedic total joint replacement devices require synovial fluid for lubrication. Thus, there is a renewed interest in understanding not only the performance of the devices but also the hydrostatic and mechanical behavior of synovial fluid interacting with total joint replacement devices. It is also important to understand the properties of this fluid presenting biomarkers with respect to arthritic conditions, age, and other demographic factors. This fluid forms a thin film between articulating surfaces that then determines the wear characteristics of the metal-liner bearings. This Special Issue will seek to understand lubricating orthopaedic devices and wearing mechanisms. Topics solicited are general in vivo science of the devices and fluid and mechanical behavior of materials investigated under broad topics of fatigue and tribology. Some of the devices may be at the interface of the biological environment as well, and modeling these complex interactions will contribute immensely to the existing knowledge.

Prof. Dr. Tarun Goswami
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Lubricants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • medical devices
  • synovial fluid analysis and properties
  • hydrodynamics
  • total joint replacement devices
  • wear rates
  • tribology
  • biomarkers presenting osteoarthritis
  • measurement and modeling

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 2984 KiB  
Article
Potential Lubricating Mechanism of Hyaluronic Acid for a Reduction of Albumin-Mediated Friction in the Artificial Joint System
by Chen-Ying Su, Yi-Fang Lu, Yung-Chang Lu, Chang-Hung Huang and Hsu-Wei Fang
Lubricants 2023, 11(5), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants11050210 - 8 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2049
Abstract
The average lifespan of artificial joints is 15–25 years, but it is still too short for young and active patients. Human synovial albumin is easily adsorbed on the surfaces of artificial joint materials and has increased friction when subjected to conformational changes. Most [...] Read more.
The average lifespan of artificial joints is 15–25 years, but it is still too short for young and active patients. Human synovial albumin is easily adsorbed on the surfaces of artificial joint materials and has increased friction when subjected to conformational changes. Most studies have focused on the interaction between synovial fluid components and artificial joints when protein conformation has not been modified, but not on how to reduce friction and wear caused by denatured proteins. This study aimed to investigate whether hyaluronic acid could provide lubrication for albumin-mediated friction when high friction was caused by the disrupted secondary structure of albumin. Thermally processed human synovial albumin was used as denatured protein while friction testing, measurement of conformation, adsorption, and viscosity analysis were investigated. The results demonstrated that adding fresh hyaluronic acid to thermally processed albumin solution could reduce 50% of the friction coefficient caused by totally disrupted albumin. The viscosity of thermally processed albumin with fresh hyaluronic acid increased 40 times more than denatured albumin alone, and the adsorbed albumin area with fresh hyaluronic acid increased twice. The results showed hyaluronic acid provided lubrication by increasing the viscosity for friction mediated by denatured albumin, and it may provide a potential solution for prolonging the lifespan of artificial joints. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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26 pages, 12900 KiB  
Article
Predictive Estimates of Short-Term and Long-Term Results for Regenerative Rehabilitation of Local Articular Cartilage Defects in Synovial Joints
by Aleksandr M. Poliakov and Vladimir I. Pakhaliuk
Lubricants 2023, 11(3), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants11030116 - 6 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1489
Abstract
Osteoarthritis is a serious disease of the synovial joints, accompanied by a degenerative lesion of the articular cartilage, often resulting in disability for a large number of people, since even modern methods of treatment in the late stages in most cases do not [...] Read more.
Osteoarthritis is a serious disease of the synovial joints, accompanied by a degenerative lesion of the articular cartilage, often resulting in disability for a large number of people, since even modern methods of treatment in the late stages in most cases do not lead to positive results. Certain prospects for the development of effective strategies for the treatment of osteoarthritis are associated with the development of new technologies for the regenerative rehabilitation of articular cartilage, involving the parallel use of regenerative and rehabilitation medicine procedures. The main goal of this study is to predict in silico short-term and long-term results of the regenerative rehabilitation process for articular cartilage based on a mathematical model that considers the diffusion of cells and nutrients into the defect area when implementing cell technologies and tissue engineering structures under conditions of explant mechanical stimulation. Numerical experiments were performed in the Matlab environment using the finite element method. On the whole, their results do not contradict those previously obtained by other authors, but they are more accurate. In the experiments, an indirect assessment of the mechanical stimulation effect for the explant and the developing cartilage tissue was made, while for the first time, the effect of a physiologically justified delay in rehabilitation procedures on the course of the regenerative process was evaluated. The results obtained can be used to assess the quality of rehabilitation procedures and plan protocols for experimental studies in vivo. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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15 pages, 2691 KiB  
Article
In Situ Observation of Hyaluronan Molecular Weight Effectiveness within Articular Cartilage Lubrication
by David Rebenda, Matúš Ranuša, Pavel Čípek, Evgeniy Toropitsyn and Martin Vrbka
Lubricants 2023, 11(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants11010012 - 30 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2382
Abstract
Degradation of the articular cartilage (AC) structure due to osteoarthritis significantly influences its friction and lubrication mechanisms. Injection with exogenous hyaluronic acid (HA) is one of the ways to slow down the progress of these changes. The present paper aims to determine the [...] Read more.
Degradation of the articular cartilage (AC) structure due to osteoarthritis significantly influences its friction and lubrication mechanisms. Injection with exogenous hyaluronic acid (HA) is one of the ways to slow down the progress of these changes. The present paper aims to determine the effect of HA on the friction and lubrication processes of the synovial joint model. The main emphasis is placed on the effect of HA molecular weight (MW) on the coefficient of friction (COF) and the interactions between HA and other constituents of synovial fluid (SF). Frictional measurements between the AC surface and the glass were performed with simultaneous in situ observation of the contact zone by fluorescence microscopy. Using this methodology, a decrease in AC COF with an increase in the fluorescence intensity emitted from contact with HA was observed, while the phenomenon was found to be MW-dependent. These findings demonstrate that high-MW HA is more effective within a resumption of healthy AC lubrication due to a better adhesion to the AC surface. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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Graphical abstract

15 pages, 2601 KiB  
Article
Effects of Viscosupplementation on Tribological Behaviour of Articular Cartilage
by Matúš Ranuša, Martin Ondra, David Rebenda, Martin Vrbka, Jiří Gallo and Ivan Křupka
Lubricants 2022, 10(12), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants10120361 - 14 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2104
Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the frequent conditions in the orthopaedic practice. The number of OA patients is increasing and the efficacy of the current treatment methods is relatively low in terms of slowing or even preventing of the disease progression. The current [...] Read more.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the frequent conditions in the orthopaedic practice. The number of OA patients is increasing and the efficacy of the current treatment methods is relatively low in terms of slowing or even preventing of the disease progression. The current research suggests that the lubrication function of the cartilage depends on its articulating surfaces. These surfaces are characterized by extracellular matrices with a three-dimensional porous structure that ensures a proper lubrication regime to protect the surface against the wear. Viscosupplementation is one of the possible treatments to slow the OA progression. This therapeutic intervention is frequently used in the clinical practice for the knee osteoarthritis. Viscosupplementation can, to a certain extent, supplement the lubrication ability of the cartilage by doping the hyaluronic acid (HA) and thus delay the degradation. However, selection of a proper viscosupplement remains a challenge, both in terms of the correct evaluation of the HA properties and their interaction with different stages of the OA. The viscoupplements differ in their HA molecular weight that may influence the CoF development from both the short term and the long-term perspective. The aim of this study is to analyze the coefficient of friction (CoF) between the real surfaces of a bovine cartilage after applying viscosupplements. The experiments were conducted on a pin-on-plate tribometer with a real bovine cartilage to simulate the lubrication regimes of a human joint. The model joint was doped with 4 different commercially available viscosupplements with different molecular weights and cross-linking of the HA. The OA damage was simulated by using a model synovial fluid with a concentration that corresponds to an OA patient. A compression of the cartilage surface was observed during the experiment and the interstitial fluid drained away from the porous cartilage structure. This, in combination with a migrating contact area (MCA), led the synovial fluid (SF) to mix with the viscosupplement. Decrease in the CoF was observed after the application of the viscosupplements with an increasing molecular weight. This was observed under a functional boosted cartilage lubrication regime, what suggests that the viscosupplementation yields the benefits especially for the conditions where the cartilage is not substantially damaged by the OA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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Graphical abstract

16 pages, 3393 KiB  
Article
Validation of Experimental and Finite Element Biomechanical Evaluation of Human Cadaveric Mandibles
by Shirish M. Ingawale, Deepak G. Krishnan and Tarun Goswami
Lubricants 2022, 10(8), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants10080169 - 25 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2180
Abstract
Background: Biomechanical analysis of human mandible is important not only to understand mechanical behavior and structural properties, but also to diagnose and develop treatment options for mandibular disorders. Therefore, the objective of this research was to generate analytical and experimental data on mandibles, [...] Read more.
Background: Biomechanical analysis of human mandible is important not only to understand mechanical behavior and structural properties, but also to diagnose and develop treatment options for mandibular disorders. Therefore, the objective of this research was to generate analytical and experimental data on mandibles, construct custom 3D models, and compare the analytically derived maximum strains with strain gage data in five areas of interest for each mandible. Methods: We investigated the surface strains in the cadaveric human mandibles under different configurations of cyclic compressive loads in an experimental setting and compared these experimental strain data with results derived from computational finite element analysis (FEA), accurately replicating the experiments. Strains on the surface of each mandible were measured with strain gauges, and subsequently a subject-specific finite element (FE) volume mesh was generated from computed tomography (CT) scans of each mandible. Strain patterns of each mandible were derived from the FEA simulating the experimental setup and matched with the experimental data. Findings: Analysis of experimental data showed that strain as measured at the condylar locations was significantly different from those at other locations on the mandible, and that the sex and age of the subject did not have a significant correlation with the strain. Comparing the FE numerical predictions with the experimental data, we found a good statistical correlation and statistical agreement between in-vitro measurements and FE results. Interpretation: The study demonstrates that our methodology of generating subject-specific FE models is a valid and accurate, non-invasive method to evaluate the complex biomechanical behavior of human mandibles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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15 pages, 10107 KiB  
Article
Characterization of In Vivo Damage on Retrieved Total Shoulder Glenoid Liners
by Eric Cheatwood, Gerard Simon, Lynn Crosby and Tarun Goswami
Lubricants 2022, 10(8), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants10080166 - 22 Jul 2022
Viewed by 1573
Abstract
An attempt was made to retrieve glenoid liners from revision surgery to undertake a retrospective study to measure the resulting in vivo damage. Since the glenoid liners are circumferential, the curvature changes at every point in the component, an “assisting arm” was designed [...] Read more.
An attempt was made to retrieve glenoid liners from revision surgery to undertake a retrospective study to measure the resulting in vivo damage. Since the glenoid liners are circumferential, the curvature changes at every point in the component, an “assisting arm” was designed to hold the liner firmly, thus allowing accurate microscopic measurements. We characterized the damage in terms of pitting, embedded debris, complete fracture, abrasion, deformation, delamination, burnishing, grooving, and scratching that took place mutually exclusively. This study of 26 liners showed embedded debris was the most underrated damage mode found on the liners, followed by pitting and abrasion, representing 65.2% and 52.2% of the liners, respectively. The prevalence of pitting in over half the samples examined is indicative of free-radical oxidation, resulting in a decrease in physical strength from morphological changes in the microstructure. These may initiate from different pathways, however, they may interact with other processes in which other damage initiates and grows, resulting in higher damage causing premature failure due to wear. A probabilistic approach was developed to generate survival time for these liners and may provide a statistical removal time of the glenoid liners in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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14 pages, 4034 KiB  
Article
Influence of Cross-Shear and Contact Pressure on Wear Mechanisms of PEEK and CFR-PEEK in Total Hip Joint Replacements
by Ruimin Shi, Bukang Wang, Jiquan Liu, Zhiwei Yan and Lei Dong
Lubricants 2022, 10(5), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants10050078 - 30 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2438
Abstract
With the increasing market demand for artificial hip joints, total hip joint replacement has gradually become an effective means of treating a series of hip joint diseases. In order to improve the service life of artificial hip joints, some new artificial hip joint [...] Read more.
With the increasing market demand for artificial hip joints, total hip joint replacement has gradually become an effective means of treating a series of hip joint diseases. In order to improve the service life of artificial hip joints, some new artificial hip joint materials, including polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFR-PEEK), have been developed. In this paper, pin-on-plate wear tests under different cross-shear ratios and contact pressures were carried out to study the wear mechanism and worn surface topography of PEEK and CFR-PEEK. The experimental results showed that the wear of PEEK was associated with cross-shear, while CFR-PEEK was not. When the cross-shear ratio was 0.039 and contact pressure was 3.18 MPa, PEEK had poor wear resistance and its wear factor was about eight times that of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). The wear resistance of CFR-PEEK had a significant advantage, since its wear factor was about 30% of that of PEEK. The wear factors of PEEK and CFR-PEEK increased as the contact pressure increased. The arithmetic average of the height amplitude of the surface, Sa, also increased gradually according to the topography of the worn surface. The wear mechanisms of PEEK and CFR-PEEK were scratching, plough cutting, and abrasion Since CFR-PEEK had good wear resistance and insensitivity to cross-shear motion, it is suitable for making artificial hip joints under low contact pressure condition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synovial Lubricated Joints—Devices and Mechanical Behavior)
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