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Mechanical behaviour of p(HEMA) hydrogel for disc prosthesis on lumbar spine

I. ROTARU1,* , D. OLARU1

Affiliation

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics and Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, B-dul Dimitrie Mangeron, 61-63, 700050, Iasi, Romani

Abstract

p(HEMA) - poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) - is a biocompatible material which in water forms a hydrogel and have multiple biomedical applications. The objective of this paper was to propose a biomaterial based on p(HEMA) for its use as damping element within disc prosthesis on lumbar spine and to analyse its mechanical behaviour. Intervertebral discs from healthy lumbar spine are mainly subjected to compressive stress and they have the capacity to ensure an adequate absorption of mechanical vibrations. In this study the mechanical behaviour of p(HEMA) has been evaluated by compression-decompression experimental tests on dry and wet biomaterial. The compression-decompression tests were performed with four different speeds: v1 = 0.05 mm/s, v2 = 0.1 mm/s, v3 = 0.15 mm/s and v4 = 0.2 mm/s. The results of this study highlighted the viscoelastic behaviour and damping capacity of swollen p(HEMA) hydrogel..

Keywords

Biomaterial, Compression, Damping, Hydrogel, p(HEMA).

Submitted at: May 30, 2013
Accepted at: July 10, 2014

Citation

I. ROTARU, D. OLARU, Mechanical behaviour of p(HEMA) hydrogel for disc prosthesis on lumbar spine, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 16, Iss. 7-8, pp. 881-886 (2014)