Wear Tests on Alumina for Application in Heart Valve Prostheses
- 1 April 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Engineering in Medicine
- Vol. 13 (2) , 79-82
- https://doi.org/10.1243/emed_jour_1984_013_020_02
Abstract
Medical grade alumina in a porous form, as well as the normal dense form, have been tested in a crossed-cylinder wear machine under conditions which reproduce those to be found in heart valves. The results show steady wear rates. For dense alumina pairs this rate is 9.9 × 10–7 mm3 (Nm)–1; for porous pairs it is about 10 times higher. A dense alumina valve prosthesis using a hinge mechanism is estimated from this data to have a useful life of about 45 years.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Scanning electron microscopy examination of a porous alumina prosthetic heart valveBiomaterials, 1983
- A Study of the Wear Characteristics of Sliding Pairs of High Density Polycrystalline Aluminium Oxide with Particular Reference to Their Use in Total Replacement Human JointsEngineering in Medicine, 1983
- Development of a twin-flap, porous ceramic mitral valve prosthesisJournal of Biomedical Engineering, 1981