Pre-clinical analysis of an acetabular cup with improved in-vivo stability and integrity

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Description/Abstract

A finite element analysis study was conducted to produce a ceramic bearing modular
acetabular cup prosthesis design with reduced wall thickness, allowing a larger diameter bearing to
be used reducing dislocation risk but without compromising bone conservation. In addition to
geometric design, pre-assembly of the modular components was considered, so that the integrity of
the cup in-vivo would be maintained, potentially reducing fracture risk and the incidence of
squeaking. The result was a design with 4mm larger bearing diameter but 20% lower peak ceramic
stress than current technology, and an assembly technique predicted to maintain implant integrity in
the presence of dimensional variation from manufacturing. Such a design would represent an
improvement in stability and integrity in-vivo over current technology, and a necessary
improvement in prosthesis design.