Wear of Total Ankle-Joint Prostheses
Wear performance of total ankle replacements (TAR) is assessed via loading and displacement parameters as specified in ISO 22622. Up to 6 systems can be assessed on OIC’s AMTI knee simulator. Samples complete 5 million cycles of testing, and wear is measured through gravimetric analysis following ISO 14243-2. Typical add-ons for this test are accelerated aging of polyethylene components, wear particle characterization, surface roughness characterization, and CMM measurements to evaluate dimensional changes resulting from the test. Adverse condition testing is also commonly performed to evaluate TAR device performance under non-ideal conditions such as increased load, high range of motion, and roughened or pre-damaged articular inserts.