In vivo sliding distance on the metal-on-polyethylene total hip arthroplasty articulation using patient-specific gait analysis

Metal-on-polyethylene (MoP) is the most commonly used bearing surface in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). Polyethylene wear debris remains a major concern. Studies investigating the wear performance based on patient-specific in vivo kinematics and component orientation remains largely lacking. The primary goal of this study was to identify patterns of the distribution of sliding distance and cross-shear ratio among THA patients. A validated approach combining dual fluoroscopic imaging system and computed-tomography was utilized to quantify in vivo gait kinematics and component orientations in 48 total hips. The distribution of accumulated sliding distance and cross-shear ratio over the polyethylene bearing surface was calculated and analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). Strong patient-specific variation in sliding distance and cross-shear ratio was observed. PCA detected two principal components (PCs) of the sliding distance that together contribute to 94.8% of the total variation. PCA detected four PCs that together contribute to 86% of the total variation of the cross-shear ratio. Regression analysis identified a positive association between cross-shear magnitude and axial and frontal range of motion (RoM). Increased cup inclination, stem anteversion, and reduced cup anteversion may lead to superiorly distributed high cross-shear region, potentially accelerating wear. Our study investigated, in vivo sliding distance and cross-shear pattern using a comprehensive patient-specific dataset and detected several wear indicators under in vivo conditions. These findings provided useful reference values that may help to assess wear in MoP THA patients.