Wear of ion-implanted pure titanium against UHMWPE

Six specimens were manufactured from commercially pure titanium (grade IV) to resemble femoral head prostheses, and five of them ion implanted to increase the wear properties. Together with three cobalt-chrome controls they were run for one million cycles on a 10-station joint simulator. For the first time both the polymer and metallic wear were quantified in the same study. The purpose of the investigation was to estimate the potential for using commercially pure titanium as a bearing surface against ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene for total joint application. It was concluded that the wear properties of titanium were improved by ion implantation, and that these positive effects could probably be enhanced with development of a better polishing technique, and by finding methods of extending the penetration depth of the nitrogen ions.