Comparison of three joint simulator wear debris isolation techniques: acid digestion, base digestion, and enzyme cleavage.

Quantification of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) wear debris remains a challenging task in orthopedic device analysis. Currently, the weight loss method is the only accepted practice for quantifying the amount of wear generated from a PE component. This technique utilizes loaded soak controls and weight differences to account for polymeric material lost through wear mechanisms. This method enables the determination of the amount of wear in the orthopedic device, but it provides no information about debris particulate size distribution. In order to shed light on wear mechanisms, information about the wear debris and its size distribution is necessary. To date, particulate isolation has been performed using the base digestion technique. The method uses a strong base, ultracentrifugation, and filtration to digest serum constituents and to isolate PE debris from sera. It should be noted that particulate isolation methods provide valuable information about particulate size distribution and may elucidate the mechanisms of wear associated with polymeric orthopedic implants; however, these techniques do not yet provide a direct measure of the amount of wear. The aim of this study is to present alternative approaches to wear particle isolation for analysis of polymer wear in total joint replacements without recourse to ultracentrifugation. Three polymer wear debris isolation techniques (the base method, an acid treatment, and an enzymatic digestion technique) are compared for effectiveness in simulator studies. A requirement of each technique is that the wear particulate must be completely devoid of serum proteins in order to effectively image and count these particles. In all methods the isolation is performed through filtration and chemical treatment. Subsequently, the isolated polymer particles are imaged using scanning electron microscopy and quantified with digital image analysis. The results from this study clearly show that isolation can be performed without the use of ultracentrifugation and that these methods provide a viable option for wear debris analysis.