Zimmer Reaches Testing Milestone with Vivacit-E

Zimmer Holdings Inc. has reached a testing milestone for its Vivacit-E advanced bearing technology with vitamin E. A paper published earlier this month reported that at 96 million cycles of in vitro wear testing, the technology, which features vitamin E-grafted, highly crosslinked polyethylene hip acetabular liners from Zimmer maintained a significant wear rate reduction of 95 percent, with no cracking, delamination or fracture observed on the samples evaluated.

“As patients for total hip replacements continue to skew younger and more active, it’s more important than ever to provide them a product that offers proven, low-wear stability and durability, and that’s exactly what Vivacit-E technology does,” said Matt Monaghan, Zimmer senior vice president and general manager, hips. “By offering a lifetime of wear resistance and the prevention of long-term oxidation, Vivacit-E advanced bearing technology plays a crucial role in making hip replacement technology from Zimmer the industry standard.”

Vivacit-E has been lab tested to mimic the number of walking steps an implant will typically be subjected to during its lifetime. Based on the average American life expectancy of 78.7 years, a patient who undergoes hip replacement at the age of 45 would need their implant to last for 34 years. Depending on how active a person is, studies have shown that we typically take about 1.1 – 2.2 million walking steps per year. Therefore, the implant would be subjected to between 37 – 74 million steps during its lifetime.

“Because of this incredible longevity and durability, Vivacit-E liners help make this hip replacement technology the implant of choice for younger and more active patients,” Monaghan added.

Zimmer makes orthopedic reconstructive, spinal and trauma devices, dental implants, and related surgical products, and is headquartered in Warsaw, Ind.