• Advances in biomechanics and applications
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.95-109
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• 2014

Peri-acetabular bone ingrowth plays a crucial role in long-term stability of press-fit acetabular cups. A poor bone ingrowth often results in increased cup migration, leading to aseptic loosening of the implant. The rate of peri-prosthetic bone formation is also affected by the polar gap that may be introduced during implantation. Applying a mechano-regulatory tissue differentiation algorithm on a two-dimensional plane strain microscale model, representing implant-bone interface, the objectives of the study are to gain an insight into the process of peri-prosthetic tissue differentiation and to investigate its relationship with implant-bone relative displacement and size of the polar gap. Implant-bone relative displacement was found to have a considerable influence on bone healing and peri-acetabular bone ingrowth. An increase in implant-bone relative displacement from $20{\mu}m$ to $100{\mu}m$ resulted in an increase in fibrous tissue formation from 22% to 60% and reduction in bone formation from 70% to 38% within the polar gap. The increase in fibrous tissue formation and subsequent decrease in bone formation leads to weakening of the implant-bone interface strength. In comparison, the effect of polar gap on bone healing and peri-acetabular bone ingrowth was less pronounced. Polar gap up to 5 mm was found to be progressively filled with bone under favourable implant-bone relative displacements of $20{\mu}m$ along tangential and $20{\mu}m$ along normal directions. However, the average Young's modulus of the newly formed tissue layer reduced from 2200 MPa to 1200 MPa with an increase in polar gap from 0.5 mm to 5 mm, suggesting the formation of a low strength tissue for increased polar gap. Based on this study, it may be concluded that a polar gap less than 0.5 mm seems favourable for an increase in strength of the implant-bone interface.