THERMAL-WAVE NONDESTRUCTIVE THICKNESS MEASUREMENTS OF HYDROXYAPATITE COATINGS APPLIED TO PROSTHETIC HIP STEMS

Thermal wave interferometry is a non-destructive inspection technique that has been used successfully for the assessment of coating thicknes s. The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of the suitab ility of the technique for the measurement and characterization of hyd roxyapatite coatings on commercially available prosthetic hip stems. T he results indicate a good correlation between the coating thickness v alues obtained using the interferometry technique and measurements mad e using optical microscopy of sectioned stems. In addition the results confirm that thermal wave interferometry can be used to accurately as sess the changes in coating thickness on samples with a complex geomet ry.