Wear testing of a DJOA finger prosthesis in vitro

Although the market for replacement of diseased metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints is dominated by single-piece silicone prostheses, several two-piece designs have been implanted. One such is the Digital Joint Operative Arthroplasty (DJOA) which consists of a part-spherical stainless steel metacarpal component which articulates within a matching concave phalangeal component made of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). A DJOA MCP prosthesis was tested using a clinically-validated finger simulator while a second DJOA prosthesis acted as a statically-loaded soak-control. Testing ran to 7.1 million cycles of flexion-extension. It was found that the UHMWPE components, both test and control, gained in weight by a similar amount. Therefore apparently there was no wear of the test components. However, the initial and final surface finish values of the test stainless steel metacarpal head were relatively high. Calculations based on this roughness data, plus recent dynamically-loaded soak data, may explain the apparent lack of wear.