SMART-HIP: Smart bioactive nanocomposite coatings for enhanced hip protheses

The objectives of this project are to develop, test and study the properties of new nanocomposite, wear resistance PVD coatings, to meet the rigorous demands of total hip replacement. The pratical objectives of this part of the project are to test the biological effects of the wear debris generated from the new coating, in a hip joint simulator. This will take the form of 3 main areas of testing to answer the following questions (new wear debris will be compared to that in current clinical use): 1) Is the new wear debris, in all its chemical forms, toxic to the human cells that will be most exposed, should the new coating be used in hip replacements? 2) Does the new wear debris have antibacterial properties against clinically relevant bacteria that can cause devastating joint infection? 3) Is the new wear debris more immunologically active than current wear debris? The development of predictive methods to assess the likely in vivo response to the implant is critical to not only this project but articulating implants in the medical devices sector as a whole.