Influence of femoral stem geometry, material and extent of porous coating on bone ingrowth and atrophy in cementless total hip arthroplasty: an iterative finite element model

Abstract

This work presents a computational model for the concurrent study of bone remodelling and ingrowth around cementless femoral stems in total hip arthroplasty. It is assumed that biological fixation depends upon the magnitude of relative displacement at the bone–stem interface as well as an ongoing updating of interface conditions during the remodelling process. The remodelling model determines the distribution of bone density by producing the stiffest structure for a given set of biological conditions at the point of equilibrium in bone turnover. Changes in bone density and patterns of ingrowth are compared for different stem geometries, materials and lengths of surface coating. Patterns of bone ingrowth on the tapered stem were independent of extent of porous coating, while ingrowth varied with the length of coating on the cylindrical stem. This model integrates knowledge of under what mechanical conditions bone ingrowth occurs on prosthetic stem surfaces with remodelling behaviour over time.

Keywords:

• hip prosthesis
• bone remodelling
• ingrowth
• finite elements

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by POCI2010 and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the project PTDC/EME-PME/71436/2006.