Enhancing damage visibility on metallic bearing surfaces: a simple technique for photography and viewing. J Arthroplasty 2013 Mar;28(3):543.e9-543.e12
Date
01/22/2013Pubmed ID
23333257Pubmed Central ID
PMC3581706DOI
10.1016/j.arth.2012.06.029Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84874555390 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 5 CitationsAbstract
Damage to metallic bearing surfaces typically involves scratches, scrapes, metal transfer, and organic deposits. This damage can cause accelerated wear of the opposing surface and subsequent implant failure. Photography and viewing of metallic bearing surfaces, for documenting this damage, are hindered by optical reflectivity. This note demonstrates a simple, practical technique for metallic bearing surface photography and viewing that minimizes this reflectivity problem, that does not involve any modification of the bearing surface, and that allows for improved observation and documentation of overall damage. When the metallic bearing surface is placed within a tube of translucent material, the appearance of damage on that bearing surface is dramatically enhanced, showing up against a smooth, even background with excellent contrast and with fine detail achievable.
Author List
Heiner AD, Kruger KM, Baer TE, Brown TDAuthor
Karen Kruger PhD Research Assistant Professor in the MU-MCW Department of Biomedical Engineering department at Marquette UniversityMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Equipment Failure AnalysisJoint Prosthesis
Metals
Photography
Prosthesis Failure
Surface Properties
