DISCUSSION ON THE DESIGN OF A HIP-JOINT SIMULATOR

Hip joint simulators were developed for predicting, bu attempting to d uplicate in vitro physiological loads and motion, the wear rate that t otal hip replacements are likely to show in vivo. From a theoretical p oint of view, loading and motion cycles of hip joints could be closely reproduced by three rotation actuators and three force actuators. How ever existing devices have been designed assuming that some of these d egrees of freedom are negligible, in order to reduce the complexity of the equipment. The present study singles out some preliminary indicat ion on the design choices regarding the spatial configuration of loadi ng and motion actuators. The aim is to define theoretically a simplifi ed simulator but still to apply the most physiologically realistic loa ding cycle to the specimen. Copyright (C) Elsevier Science Ltd for IPE MB.