iglidur® - highest convenience and safety in knee joint prostheses

Profile

• What was needed: Slotted piston ring for use in a prosthetic knee joint with pneumatic cylinder
• Manufacturing process: Injection moulding
• Requirements: Piston ring must absorb radial forces and allow easy, low-friction guidance of the piston
• Material: iglidur J
• Success for the customer: Reduction of assembly and service costs by simple and quick clip on. Functionality, quality and service life of the knee joint were increased, along with improved sliding and wear properties

Only materials and components that can be relied upon are used for prostheses. Especially for leg prostheses, it is important that the user can trust his prosthesis when he is running and standing with it. Therefore, Otto Bock SE & Co. KGaA, the world market leader in technical orthopaedics, has been relying on iglidur plain bearings made of high-performance polymers for more than 20 years.  When caring for a patient, it is very important that the prosthesis is individually adapted to the wearer and supports his or her body in the most motorically demanding tasks, such as running. In order to perform these tasks in a natural way and as pleasingly as possible for the prosthesis user, Otto Bock has been continuously developing innovative products for many years.

Problem:

Some of the bearing points in prosthetic knee joints were fitted with bronze bearings.  Otto Bock SE & Co KGaA was looking for an alternative for these bearing points.  It turned out that fretting corrosion can occur at the bearing points during small pivoting movements. As a result, knee joints can become stiff and pose a risk to the wearer of the prosthesis.  With increasing clearance of the bronze bearings, noises were also generated.  

Solution:

By using corrosion-free iglidur plain bearings, the fretting corrosion problem was solved. Due to their low wear values, the plain bearings were also impressive during tests in Otto Bock's in-house laboratory.  Further advantages of iglidur plain bearings: Dirt and dust deposits do not affect the plain bearings and thus do not impair the function of the prosthetic knee joints. Their quiet operation also contributes to the comfort of the prostheses.   

In addition to numerous standard parts, which are available in a large selection of materials for a wide variety of applications, igus also manufactures individual components according to customer requirements. The benefits of this service have also beenalready recognised by Otto Bock SE & Co. KGaA. The 3R78 prosthetic knee joint, one of the most sought-after mechanical joints with pneumatic control system, uses a piston ring that, due to its special geometry, is not available in the standard range from igus. For such cases, igus offers a variety of manufacturing processes to initially produce cost-effective prototypes, which can then be manufactured in quantities of 1 up to several million. Depending on the application, the selection of the optimum material can be adapted to achieve the best possible results in operation.
 
Quality for Life – This is the motto of Otto Bock, which stands for reliable products. To cope with this, Otto Bock SE & Co. KGaA operates an in-house test laboratory. It not only tests its own developments, but also components from suppliers, such as the igus polymer plain bearings. Only in this way can Otto Bock provide prosthesis users with the quality, reliability and stability they need.