Alternatives ( bovine/pig bone ) to human cadaveric material for implant testing ?

[Steven Leuridan]

Hi all,

For a study on cementless femoral implants we are looking at some alternatives for human cadaveric bones. We have been using Sawbones, but for our current study we would like to simulate periprosthetic fractures due to excessive hoop stresses around the implant during implant insertion. The fiber reinforced sawbones are very, if not impossible, to break during impaction of the implant. Human cadaveric femurs would probably be the best way to go, but since supply is scarce, I was wondering if any of you had any experience or knows of alternatives for human cadaveric femurs ( e.g. bovine bone, pig bones ) that can serve as a model for this study on periprosthetic fractures ?

Any input/references on this would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Steven

[Stephen Richey]

Re: Alternatives ( bovine/pig bone ) to human cadaveric material for implant testing

I know that one of the biomedical manufacturing companies around here used to use dogs as test subjects for new joint implants. I'm not sure if it would work for your purposes but it might be something to look into.

[Andrew New]

Re: Alternatives ( bovine/pig bone ) to human cadaveric material for implant testing

I've used pig and bovine bones for similar work. Neither is ideal I'm afraid. On balance I'd say pig was better. Even though pig acetabulae are a bit small (at least for bones from animals of the age we were able to source), you should find that the smallest size human implants are not a bad fit if you are reasonably aggresive with the reaming. Bovine acetabulae tend to be pretty big and I've only used cemented implants with these. I think you'd find that they were too big for most uncemented implants.

Another thing you have to watch out for is that most animals slaughtered for food (which are the ones that you will find easiest to come by and certainly the ones that are the least unpleasant to obtain and use) will be young enough that the growth plates in the acetabulum will not have fused. As I'm sure you appreciate, the growth plates make the acetabulum much more compliant so you might not be able to reproduce the same kind of fractures you see in older bones. Also, if you are talking to butchers or slaughtermen direct, you want to be sure that they understand that it is the hip joint you need and not the shoulder (aka the back end!). We've been caught out by that one!

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back to me if you need to.

Cheers

Andrew

Hi all,

For a study on cementless femoral implants we are looking at some alternatives for human cadaveric bones. We have been using Sawbones, but for our current study we would like to simulate periprosthetic fractures due to excessive hoop stresses around the implant during implant insertion. The fiber reinforced sawbones are very, if not impossible, to break during impaction of the implant. Human cadaveric femurs would probably be the best way to go, but since supply is scarce, I was wondering if any of you had any experience or knows of alternatives for human cadaveric femurs ( e.g. bovine bone, pig bones ) that can serve as a model for this study on periprosthetic fractures ?

Any input/references on this would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Steven

[Steven Leuridan]

Re: Alternatives ( bovine/pig bone ) to human cadaveric material for implant testing

Dear Andrew and Stephen,

Thanks for the useful replies ! Andrew, is there any literature to support the use of bovine/pig bones as an alternative to human cadavers ? Or have any of your tests been published so that I can use this as a reference ?
An other suggestion I've got was deer and goat bone. Do you have any experience with that ?

Best regards,
Steven

[Andrew New]

Re: Alternatives ( bovine/pig bone ) to human cadaveric material for implant testing

Not that I know of - check PubMed perhaps. I'm afraid the work I did myself was commercial so I can't share the results.

I have used deer bone (red deer) for some spinal work - one of the surgeons I was working with liked to go shooting in Scotland on weekends! - and the vertebral bodies were a pretty good size match to human. Could be worth a try. You may also be able to get older animals which could solve the growth plate problem. No experience with goats I am afraid but guess they will have similar limitations as sheep.

Cheers

Andrew

Dear Andrew and Stephen,

Thanks for the useful replies ! Andrew, is there any literature to support the use of bovine/pig bones as an alternative to human cadavers ? Or have any of your tests been published so that I can use this as a reference ?
An other suggestion I've got was deer and goat bone. Do you have any experience with that ?

Best regards,
Steven