Research Report 7: A Laboratory Experiment on Total Hip Prosthesis

Abstract
A simple mechanical device for testing weight-bearing resistance of total hip prosthesis has been developed. Head and cotyle are submitted to movement very close to that of natural hips of a man walking at 6 km/h. Stainless steel femoral heads have been tested against artificial cotyles made of three different materials: Nylonplast A, Teflon and Delrin. Among the three, Delrin proved the most resistant and safest material for building the cotyle when a steel femoral head is used.