standard testing of hip implant stems

[Petr Brejsa]

I am studying the manufacturing and testing of articial hips. My question to this group is what are the standard tests performed on hip implant stems at the various stages of development and production? ie: I know of fatigue tests on the finished hip stem, but would also like to know what type of tests are standard at earlier stages of production, such as strength tests and metallurgical analysis.

Any information on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Or if anyone is familiar with published standards dealing with this, please let me know. I will post a summary of replies.

thank you,

w. merick

PBrejsa@walter.cz