A predictive mechano-biological model of the bone-implant healing

The quality of the fixation orthopaedic implant to its surrounding bone determines its clinical longevity. Up to 20% of hip replacement operations are currently revisions for aseptic loosening. While this fixation quality is determined primarily by the bone and tissue anchoring the implant, conditions influencing bone growth in the early post-operative period include the surgical technique and coupled mechanical and biochemical factors. The aim of the study was to propose an original mechano-biological formulation of the healing process of periprosthetic tissue. The multiphasic porous model involved the solid osseous matrix, the extracellular fluid phase, the osteoblastic cellular phase responsible from the bone formation and the growth factor phase promoting the cellular activity. To derive the non-linear convective-diffuse governing equations, mass balance was associated to cell active haptotactic and chemotactic migration, growth factor diffusion, cell proliferation (logistic law) and bone formation (reactive medium). The in-vivo application concerned a canine axisymmetric implant which was stable and mechanically unloaded. Predictive numerical results were compared to ex-vivo data from a histologic study. The generic healing pattern involving two main oscillations of the radial bone formation was well predicted. In the future, the model could assist in evaluating the role of growth factor concentrations and their temporal delivering as far as the role of pertinent sources such as bioactive coating or additional biomaterials.