Narrative review demonstrates the role of biphasic and boundary lubrication in hydrogel cartilage substitutes, indicating pathways to enhance durability in artificial joints.
Various studies on the application of artificial hydrogel cartilage to cartilage substitutes and artificial joints have been conducted. It is expected in clinical application of artificial hydrogel cartilage that not only soft-elastohydrodynamic lubrication but biphasic, hydration, gel-film and boundary lubrication mechanisms will be effective to sustain extremely low friction and minimal wear in daily activities similar to healthy natural synovial joints with adaptive multimode lubrication. In this review article, the effectiveness of biphasic lubrication and boundary lubrication in hydrogels in thin film condition is focused in relation to the structures and properties of hydrogels. As examples, the tribological behaviors in three kinds of poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels with high water content are compared, and the importance of lubrication mechanism in biomimetic artificial hydrogel cartilage is discussed to extend the durability of cartilage substitute.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
MURAKAMI et al. (2015) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: