Study of the strength of a hip endoprosthesis made of polymeric material

Developing individualized implant designs in the shortest possible time is a challenging problem in personalized medicine; advanced digital technologies are increasingly integrated in biomedicine to tackle this challenge. While acceptable results are obtained in hip arthroplasty, there is still a number of serious issues that require further research into the design and materials of personalized implants. In particular, studies on the behaviour of biomechanical systems under functional loads have raised a number of questions concerning correct application of loads accounting for the muscle-joint interactions and the implant material selected that could ensure long-term biocompatibility with the human body without replacement. As a way to solving the problem, we considered personalized finite element models prepared based on patient computer tomography data obtained from NMRC for Traumatology and Orthopaedics named after R.R. Vreden (St. Petersburg). We constructed a realistic finite element model of the pelvis, investigating the stress-strain state of the pelvic bones and implants during simulation of primary and revision hip arthroplasty. A series of simulations was performed for different shapes of the endoprosthesis and fixation methods, analysing the potential applications for the personalized endoprosthesis made of a polymer material.