Current State and Progress in the Research of Squeaking in Ceramic-on-ceramic Hip Prosthesis

The research work and progress in squeaking of ceramic-on-ceramic hip prosthesis in the past ten years are reviewed from three viewpoints of surgical implantation, design of partner components and friction-induced vibration. So far, the generation mechanisms of squeaking in ceramic-on-ceramic hips are mainly attributed to the wear of implanted hips and shortcomings in prosthetic design. However, these mechanisms can not statistically explain all the physical phenomena of squeaking in ceramic-on-ceramic hips. Several investigators suggested that the squeaking of ceramic-on-ceramic hip prosthesis may be induced by the friction-induced vibration of ceramic-on-ceramic hip prosthesis, but their work has just got going. Up to now, the main mechanism of squeaking generation has not been completely understood. It is suggested that the further study on the hips squeaking should be carried out from the interdisciplines of friction-induced vibration and in vivo kinetics of hip prosthesis, so as to better acquire the understanding of the squeaking generation mechanism.