Knee wear simulation under conditions of highly demanding daily activities--influence on an unicompartmental fixed bearing knee design.

The objectives of our in vitro study were to evaluate a knee wear simulation based on patient daily activities in combination with artificial ageing of polyethylene inserts to create an optimised simulation of in vivo wear modes. A wear simulation was performed on fixed bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) devices in a direct comparison of level walking (as given by the ISO 14243-1:2002(E) profiles) and in a customised test configuration based on activities for level walking (10%), stairs ascending (40%), stairs descending (40%), chair rising (8%) and deep squatting (2%). The cumulative gravimetric wear was estimated to be 15.3mg for level walking (ISO) and 69.6 mg for high demanding activities (HDA). The gravimetric wear rate of the ISO group was 3.0mg/million cycles, compared to 11.7 mg/million cycles for the HDA protocol. Level walking wear testing conditions (ISO) and artificial ageing alone is not sufficient to reproduce in vivo failure modes. After 3 million cycles all gliding surfaces of the HDA group developed in the tibio-femoral articulation markable areas of structural material fatigue and delamination. In conclusion a combination of artificial ageing to clinical relevant oxidation grades and a sequence of various high demanding daily patient activities is necessary to represent a revised in vitro behaviour of abrasive-adhesive wear and delamination in artificial knee replacements.

Definition and evaluation of testing scenarios for knee wear simulation under conditions of highly demanding daily activities.

The objective of our study was the definition of testing scenarios for knee wear simulation under various highly demanding daily activities of patients after total knee arthroplasty. This was mainly based on a review of published data on knee kinematics and kinetics followed by the evaluation of the accuracy and precision of a new experimental setup. We combined tibio-femoral load and kinematic data reported in the literature to develop deep squatting loading profiles for simulator input. A servo-hydraulic knee wear simulator was customised with a capability of a maximum flexion of 120°, a tibio-femoral load of 5000N, an anterior-posterior (AP) shear force of ±1000N and an internal-external (IE) rotational torque of ±50Nm to simulate highly demanding patient activities. During the evaluation of the newly configurated simulator the ability of the test machine to apply the required load and torque profiles and the flexion kinematics in a precise manner was examined by nominal-actual profile comparisons monitored periodically during subsequent knee wear simulation. For the flexion kinematics under displacement control a delayed actuator response of approximately 0.05s was inevitable due to the inertia of masses in movement of the coupled knee wear stations 1-3 during all applied activities. The axial load and IE torque is applied in an effective manner without substantial deviations between nominal and actual load and torque profiles. During the first third of the motion cycle a marked deviation between nominal and actual AP shear load profiles has to be noticed but without any expected measurable effect on the latter wear simulation due to the fact that the load values are well within the peak magnitude of the nominal load amplitude. In conclusion the described testing method will be an important tool to have more realistic knee wear simulations based on load conditions of the knee joint during activities of daily living.

Gas temperature measurements inside a hot wall chemical vapor synthesis reactor.

One key but complex parameter in the chemical vapor synthesis (CVS) of nanoparticles is the time temperature profile of the gas phase, which determines particle characteristics such as size (distribution), morphology, microstructure, crystal, and local structure. Relevant for the CVS process and for the corresponding particle characteristics is, however, not the T(t)-profile generated by an external energy source such as a hot wall or microwave reactor but the temperature of the gas carrying reactants and products (particles). Due to a complex feedback of the thermodynamic and chemical processes in the reaction volume with the external energy source, it is very difficult to predict the real gas phase temperature field from the externally applied T(t)-profile. Therefore, a measurement technique capable to determine the temperature distribution of the gas phase under process conditions is needed. In this contribution, we demonstrate with three proof of principle experiments the use of laser induced fluorescence thermometry to investigate the CVS process under realistic conditions.

Delineation of distinct tumour profiles in mantle cell lymphoma by detailed cytogenetic, interphase genetic and morphological analysis.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive lymphoid tumour characterized by the translocation t(11;14)(q13;q32) and a poor clinical outcome (median survival: 3-4 years). Recent studies revealed that increased proliferation of the tumour cells and certain chromosomal aberrations, such as deletions of 17p13 and 9p21 represent major adverse biological markers in this disease, although the molecular targets of chromosomal imbalances in MCL have not been identified for the large majority of loci affected. To correlate histomorphological and proliferation features of MCL with genetic findings, we investigated 223 MCL by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (n = 157) and/or classical cytogenetic banding analysis (n = 129). FISH analysis turned out to be distinctly more sensitive in the delineation of aberrations. Complex karyotypic alterations were associated with higher proliferation indices and inferior prognosis. A comprehensive analysis of biological features including genetic alterations in MCL by hierarchical clustering resulted in the delineation of four tumour subgroups differing with respect to their genetic constitution and suggesting different transformation or progression pathways. Moreover, in one of the groups identified, a more indolent clinical behaviour was associated with few secondary aberrations and fewer known high-risk chromosomal aberrations, which points to the importance of the quality of karyotypic evolution in MCL tumours.