Polyethylene wear particles around joint replacements - their properties, distribution and possible mechanism of their adverse biological effects

CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE FACULTY OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY PRAGUE 2010 Supervisor: Doc. MUDr. Jiří Gallo, PhD. Supervisor-consultant: Prof. RNDr. Gustav Entlicher, CSc. Eva Zolotarevová Summary of PhD Thesis POLYETHYLENE WEAR PARTICLES AROUND TOTAL JOINT REPLACEMENTS - THEIR PROPERTIES, DISTRIBUTION AND POSSIBLE MECHANISM OF THEIR ADVERSE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS PRAGUE 2010 The research project was supported by the Grant project of National research program II. (no. 2B06096) of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports named "Observation and minimization of UHMWPE wear in joint replacements". Front-page picture: Polyethylene wear particle isolated from granuloma tissue surrounding total hip replacement; Electron microscope microphotograph; particle size app. 90 x 80 µm; retouched Eva Zolotarevová Introduction Introduction For many people all over the world a replacement with an implant of irreversibly damaged joint is often the only way how to come back to normal life without pain and mobility limitation. Nowadays, greater and greater requirements are asked of quality of all replacement components, especially in terms of quality of used materials. Biomechanical properties of hip and knee replacements have been already solved. The most often used materials for manufacturing joint..