Mechanical Strength and Stiffness of the Biodegradable SonicWeld Rx Osteofixation System

Buijs, Gerrit J.; van der Houwen, Eduard B.; Stegenga, Boudewijn; Verkerke, Gijbertus J.; Bos, Rudolf R.M.

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2008.07.022

« Previous Next »Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 67, Issue 4 , Pages 782-787, April 2009

Mechanical Strength and Stiffness of the Biodegradable SonicWeld Rx Osteofixation System

Gerrit J. Buijs, DMD
- PhD Student, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Buijs: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, PO Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands
Eduard B. van der Houwen, MSc
- PhD Student, Department of BioMedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Boudewijn Stegenga, DMD, MSc, PhD
- Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Gijbertus J. Verkerke, MSc, PhD
- Professor, Department of BioMedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; and Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Rudolf R.M. Bos, DMD, PhD
- Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Purpose

To determine the mechanical strength and stiffness of the new 2.1 mm biodegradable ultrasound-activated SonicWeld Rx (Gebrüder Martin GmbH & Co, Tuttlingen, Germany) osteofixation system in comparison with the conventional 2.1 mm biodegradable Resorb X (Gebrüder Martin GmbH & Co) osteofixation system.

Materials and Methods

Plates and screws were fixed to 2 polymethylmethacrylate blocks to simulate bone segments and were subjected to tensile, side bending, and torsion tests. During testing, force and displacement were recorded and graphically presented in force-displacement diagrams. For the tensile tests, the strength of the osteofixation system was measured. The stiffness was calculated for the tensile, side bending, and torsion tests.

Results

The tensile strength and stiffness as well as the side bending stiffness of the SonicWeld Rx system presented up to 11.5 times higher mean values than the conventional Resorb X system. The torsion stiffness of both systems presents similar mean values and standard deviations.

Conclusions

The SonicWeld Rx system is an improvement in the search for a mechanically strong and stiff as well as a biodegradable osteofixation system. Future research should be done to find out whether the promising in vitro results can be transferred to the in situ clinical situation.