Lucideon Adds Impingement Testing to its Orthopedic Implant Services

United Kingdom-based Lucideon, an international materials technology company, has added impingement testing to its range of services for orthopedic implant manufacturers.

Impingement testing assesses wear caused by motion beyond the joint’s natural limit, mimicking in-vivo conditions. Such testing can help manufacturers to approximate the longevity of an implant, but more importantly, predict its ability to withstand abnormal conditions, and, as such, is often included at the design stage of prosthetic development.

The new method for impingement wear testing of hip implants has been validated to ASTM F2582-14 and is complementary to Lucideon’s other wear-testing services, which include hip testing to ISO 14242 and knee testing to ISO 14243, both of which are ISO 17025 accredited. 

“Impingement testing uses different setup, load and motion profiles than standard wear testing, reflecting the fact that a joint in vivo would very rarely be under maximum force whilst impinging but accounting for the additional stresses the implant would be under if it did,” said Gemma Budd, healthcare business manager at Lucideon “By performing this testing we are able to help manufacturers see how their product will perform in vivo, enabling them to assess its longevity and foresee potential failure modes.”

Budd said the company is “committed” to developing centers of excellence for hip and knee wear testing in United States and in the United Kingdom, adding that Lucideon has invested 1 million British pounds (approximately $1.57 million) in state-of-the-art facilities on both sides of the Atlantic.

“We also plan to develop and validate methods for other joints, such as ankles and shoulders,” Budd added.

Lucideon offers a range of tribology services for orthopedic implant manufacturers, including failure, debris and wear pattern analysis, in addition to other analytical capabilities, such as surface analysis and materials characterization.

Lucideon provides materials development, testing and assurance to clients in a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, construction, ceramics and power engineering.