50,000 Successful Surgeries Worldwide. Why take a chance with anything else?
Aesculap's gold knee, with its patented seven-layer Advanced Surface Technology, offers enhanced protection against the top prostheses-related reasons for implant failure and revision.1
With approximately 20% of all TKA patients reporting dissatisfaction with their knee replacements2, now is the perfect time to learn more about our gold knee and how it may benefit your patients.
The Advanced Surface Technology provides:
- Substantial wear reduction – Wear is the number one reason for revision in the long term, and the knee prosthesis with Advanced Surface Technology demonstrates substantial reduction in wear when compared to a CoCr prosthesis.*
- Unmatched surface hardness – The ceramic surface layer can lead to improved scratch resistance and good wettability for better articulation between bearing surfaces.
- Mechanical integrity and improved elastic modulus – The Advanced Surface Technology is designed to reduce the hardness from top to bottom in a gradient way, making it extremely stable against mechanical stresses and strains.
- Reduced potential for metal ion release – The Advanced Surface Technology creates a potential barrier against the release of metal ions, such as molybdenum, nickel, cobalt and chromium in laboratory (in-vitro) wear testing.
- Enhanced performance – This technology in combination with Aesculap knee systems with e-beam polyethylene (PE) yields excellent performance.*
Advanced Surface Multilayer Technology
The total layer thickness ranges between 3.5 and 5 μm. The Advanced Surface Technology consists of a top layer, five transition layers and a bond and barrier layer in connection with the standard material CoCr29Mo6.
- Zirconium (Zr) – The basic element zirconium is one of the most biocompatible metals with extreme viscosity and endurance strength.
- Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) – Zirconium and nitrogen have a high resistance to wear, low gliding friction and hardness, due to the ceramic nature.
- Chrome (Cr) – The five transition layers are chrome nitride (CrN), an anticorrosive and hard metal.
Advanced Surface Technology Process
The ceramic layer of the Advanced Surface Technology implants is applied by a sophisticated deposition process (PVD = Physical Vapor Deposition). The elements of the layers are vaporized in this process. The condensed molecules from the vapor (plasma) settle on the substrate material. This process creates the alternating layers between the CoCr base layer and the ZrN top surface.
The main advantage of this process is the low coating temperature (200 - 500°C) which preserves the sensitive substrate materials.
By appropriate selection of the targets and reaction gases, a large variety of layers can be produced.
*As evidenced by mechanical testing and literature review.
**Data on file.
1 As evidenced by mechanical testing and literature review. Data on file.
2 Bourne, R. et al. (2009). Patient Satisfaction after Total Knee Arthroplasty. Clin Ortho Relat Res, 468, 57-63. doi.10.1007/s11999-009-1119-9.
Low Polyethylene Wear Results
Almost 50% of total knee revisions are due to either aseptic loosening or polyethylene wear.** Columbus AS Femoral implants were tested according to ISO 14243 standards and showed polyethylene wear results as low as 3.5 mg/million cycles.**
Small scratches in CoCrMo implants are a known but still unexplained surface damage that can lead to higher PE wear. During wear tests, the ceramic ZrN layer exhibited a resistance to scratches and also good wettability, which leads to better articulation between the PE bearing surface and the femoral component.
The excellent surface quality in vitro suggests very good clinical characteristics in vivo.
Metal Ion Barrier
Considering the growing number of patients receiving implants, biocompatibility and longevity are two of the most important topics in joint reconstruction. The five transition layers provide stability and act to create a potential barrier to help prevent metal ion release.