Smith+Nephew Taking its OXINIUM Technology on National Tour

Smith+Nephew’s OXINIUM technology is embarking on a national tour.

The orthopedic device behemoth has kicked off the OXINIUM Technology Tour of Change, a mobile exhibit slated to visit 20 U.S. cities over three months. Smith+Nephew claims its OXINIUM (oxidized zirconium) technology has been clinically proven as the best performing bearing with the lowest risk of revision in total hip arthroplasty (THA) at nine to 17 years,^1-4 with strong clinical performance in knees.^5,6
 
The 550-square-foot OXINIUM mobile exhibit is designed to help healthcare practitioners learn about OXINIUM Technology’s differentiated implant material, how an implant is made, and how it has been applied clinically during the last 20 years in more than 2 million cases, delivering proven clinical performance in hip and knee replacements.^1-6
 
Through a unique manufacturing process, the OXINIUM alloy becomes a ceramicised metal—a true material transformation—rather than an applied coating.⁷ This material transformation provides OXINIUM Oxidized Zirconium with performance benefits that include:

• Unrivalled Material Science: The durability of metal, the wear resistance of ceramic and corrosion resistance better than both.^7-16
• Proven Clinical Performance: The lowest risk of revision in primary hips in four national and regional registries, as well as A/A ratings for OXINIUM knees from the Orthopaedic Device Evaluation Panel (ODEP)^1-5
• Differentiated Composition: Virtually no nickel, cobalt and chromium, with a lower pro-inflammatory profile in vitro than CoCr*,16. As such, OXINIUM implants will not be labelled as CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic) under the new EU-MDR cobalt label requirements.

“As the number of cases increase and the age of patients broadens in hip and knee arthroplasty,^17-19 the demand for a high-performance bearing surface that can deliver proven clinical performance grows,^1-6” stated Randy Kilburn, executive vice president and general manager, Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Robotics and Digital for Smith+Nephew. “Corrosion, wear and aseptic loosening can all impact short-term clinical outcomes, implant survivorship, and quality of life for the patient,^20,21 so surgeons need an implant material that can address these concerns through material science.”^7-16
 
There will also be an opportunity on the Tour of Change for clinicians to learn more about how OXINIUM Technology can be used with Smith+Nephew’s Real Intelligence portfolio to combine material, design and placement. This includes the CORI◊ Surgical System, a next generation, handheld robotics-assisted platform.
 
References
¹ Davis ET, Pagkalos J, Kopjar B. Bearing surface and survival of cementless and hybrid total hip arthroplasty in the National Joint Registry of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. JBJS. 2020;5(2):pe0075.
² Peters RM, Van Steenbergen LN, Stevens M, et al. The effect of bearing type on the outcome of total hip arthroplasty. Acta Orthopaedica. 2018; 89(2):163-169.
³ Atrey A, Ancarani C, Fitch D, Bordini B. Impact of bearing couple on long-term component survivorship for primary cementless total hip replacement in a large arthroplasty registry. Poster presented at: Canadian Orthopedic Association; June 20–23, 2018; Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry (AOANJRR) Hip, Knee & Shoulder Arthroplasty: 2021 Annual Report.
⁵ ODEP Product Rating “OXINIUM”. Available at: https://www.odep.org.uk/products.aspx. Accessed March 1st, 2022.
⁶ Innocenti M, Matassi F, Carulli C, Nistri L, Civinini C. Oxidized zirconium femoral component for TKA: A follow-up note of a previous report at a minimum of 10 years. The Knee. 2014;21:858–861.
⁷ Hunter G, Dickinson J, Herb B, et al. Creation of oxidized zirconium orthopaedic implants. Journal of  ASTM International. 2005;2:1-14.
⁸ Long M, Riester L, Hunter G. Nano-hardness Measurements of Oxidized Zr-2.5Nb and Various Orthopaedic Materials. Abstract presented at: 24th Annual Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials. April 22-26, 1998, San Diego, California.
⁹ Parikh A, Hill P, Hines G, Pawar V. Wear of conventional and highly crosslinked polyethylene liners during simulated fast walking/jogging. Poster presented at: 55th Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, 2009. Poster no. 2340.
¹⁰ Parikh A, Hill P, Pawar V, Sprague J. Long-term Simulator Wear Performance of an Advanced Bearing Technology for THA. Poster presented at: 2013 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society. Poster no. 1028.
¹¹ Papannagari R, Hines G, Sprague J, Morrison M. Long-term wear performance of an advanced bearing technology for TKA. Poster presented at: 2011 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society. Poster no. 1141.
¹² Smith+Nephew 2010. OR-10-155.
¹³ Aldinger P, Williams T, Woodard E. Accelerated Fretting Corrosion Testing of Zirconia Toughened Alumina Composite Ceramic and a New Composition of Ceramicised Metal Femoral Heads. Poster presented at: 2017 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society. Poster no. 1037.
¹⁴ Smith+Nephew 2016. OR-16-127.
¹⁵ 2005 ASM International Engineering Materials Achievement Award.
¹⁶ Dalal A, Pawar V, McAllister K, Weaver C, Hallab NJ. Orthopedic implant cobalt-alloy particles produce greater toxicity and inflammatory cytokines than titanium alloy and zirconium alloy-based particles in vitro, in human osteoblasts, fibroblasts, and macrophages. J Biomed Mater Res Part A. 2012;100A:2147-2158.
¹⁷ Klug A, Gramlich Y, Rudert M, et al. The projected volume of primary and revision total knee arthroplasty will place an immense burden on future health care systems over the next 30 years. Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. 2020;15:1-12.
¹⁸ Sloan M, Premkumar A, Sheth NP. Projected Volume of Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty in the U.S., 2014 to 2030. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018;100:1455-1460.
¹⁹ Ackerman IN, Bohensky MA, Zomer E, et al. The projected burden of primary total knee and hip replacement for osteoarthritis in Australia to the year 2030. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2019;23(1):90.
²⁰ Fernandez-Fernandez R, Cruz-Pardos A, Garcia-Rey E. Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty: Epidemiology   and Causes. In: Rodríguez-Merchán E. Revision Total Joint Arthoplasty. Springer, 2020.
²¹ Lewis PL, Robertsson O, Graves SE, et al. Variation and trends in reasons for knee replacement revision: a multi-registry study of revision burden. Acta Orthopaedica. 2020. 2021:92(2):182-8.
* ASTM International Standard Specification for Wrought Zirconium-2.5 Niobium Alloy for Surgical Implant Applications (UNS R60901) Designation: F 2384 – 10.