13. Biomaterials Basics

Dr. J. P. Curmudgeon, chief of orthopaedic surgery at Mega General Hospital had done thousands of total hip arthroplasty operations with generally excellent results. Still, he was constantly in search of new and better methods of dealing with the problems of the arthritic hip. When he learned about the frequent use in Japan of a ceramic femoral head replacement, he contacted a Japanese colleague in Tokyo and went there to learn the technique. His gracious host invited him to assist in the operating room and even handed him the ceramic femoral head when it was time to insert it into the patient. Unfortunately, Dr. Curmudgeon did not realize how slippery the device was and dropped it onto the operating room floor, where it shattered. Needless to say, Dr. Curmudgeon was highly embarrassed. Was the ceramic head defective? If not, could something so brittle be expected to function as a hip replacement?