Zirconia as a ceramic biomaterial

Zirconia ceramics have several advantages over other ceramic materials, due to the transformation toughening mechanisms operating in their microstructure that can give to components made out of them, very interesting mechanical properties. The research on the use of zirconia ceramics as biomaterials started about twenty years ago, and now zirconia (Y-YZP) is in clinical use in THR, but developments are in progress for application in other medical devices. Recent developments have concentrated on the chemistry of precursors, in forming and sintering processes, and on surface finish of components. Today's main applications of zirconia ceramics is in THR ball heads. This review takes into account the main results achieved up to now, and is focused on the role that microstructural characteristics play on the TZP ceramics behaviour in ball heads, namely mechanical properties and their stability, wear of the UHMWPE paired to TZP, and their influence on biocompatibility. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.