How have new designs and new types of joint replacement influenced wear behavior?

As the principles of joint arthroplasty become increasingly refined and more widely established, new designs are being developed that require careful evaluation for their propensity to generate wear debris in vivo. In the past several years, new designs intended to improve clinical performance have emerged in both total knee replacement and total spinal disk replacement. Advances in these types of implants have the potential for major clinical impact in the coming decade, due to the large number of patients seeking treatment of knee arthritis as well as back pain, neck pain, and radiculopathy.