Computational modeling of polyethylene wear in total hip arthroplasty using patient-specific kinematics-coupled finite element analysis

Computational modeling of polyethylene wear based on patient-specific gait kinematics and component orientation remains lacking. This study aimed to quantify the polyethylene wear among 48 total hip arthroplasty (THA) using patient-specific data through a computational model incorporating the cross-shear effect. Strong patient variations were observed in volumetric wear rate (54.1 ± 13.9 mm3/year) and linear wear rate (0.20 ± 0.08 mm/year). Regression analysis demonstrated that axial plane rotation, in light of its influence on cross-shear effect, plays an important role in polyethylene wear. The computational model based on patient-specific gait kinematics and component orientation provides a useful tool to investigate the in-vivo polyethylene wear.