Pre-clinical testing of hip prosthetic designs: a comparison of finite element calculations and laboratory tests.

To investigate the accuracy of finite element (FE) models for pre-clinical testing of unbounded hip prostheses, relative to aspects of load transfer and micromobility, two previously published laboratory experiments were simulated, using three-dimensional FE models. It was found for the load-transfer analyses that the experiment and the FE study revealed results that were very similar. The trends in the mobility experiments were also reproduced in the FE simulations, although quantitative differences were found. It is concluded that FE analysis can effectively be used for design evaluation of hip prostheses before prototypes are made.