ZRO2 COATINGS BY PULSED LASER DEPOSITION FOR KNEE PROSTHESES

APPROXIMATELY 200,000 TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENTS AND 200,000 TOTAL HIP REPLACEMENTS ARE PERFORMED YEARLY IN THE UNITED STATES. THE PROSTHESES MUST BE AS RELIABLE AS POSSIBLE. CERAMICS ARE WELL KNOWN AND VALUABLE CLINICAL MATERIALS, BUT FIND LIMITED USE DUE TO THEIR BRITTLENESS. IT WAS FOUND THAT ZRO2 HAS BETTER STRENGTH AND TOUGHNESS THAN A12O3, BUT CAN NOT BE USED IN KNEE PROSTHESES, SINCE KNEE COMPONENTS HAVE COMPLEX SHAPES, ARE UNDER COMPLEX STRESS STATE, AND HAVE LARGE IMPACT LOAD. AN INNOVATIVE METHOD OF DEPOSITING ZRO2 COATINGS ON METALLIC KNEE PROSTHESES WITH A NEW LASER ABLATION COATING TECHNOLOGY, PULSED LASER DEPOSITION (PLD), IS BEING TESTED. THE FEASIBILITY AND HIGH QUALITY OF ZRO2 COATINGS BY PLD FOR APPLICATION IN ARTIFICIAL KNEE COMPONENTS IS DEMONSTRATED. WITH A LAYER OF PLD ZRO2 COATING DEPOSITED ON THE SURFACE OF METALLIC COMPONENTS, A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF STRENGTH, TOUGHNESS, WEAR RESISTANCE, AND BIOCOMPATIBILITY IS BEING ESTABLISHED.