Despite the success of surgical implants such as artificial hip and knee joints, the materials used in these procedures still do not satisfy the demands of a durable functioning joint. Current synthetic materials, such as stain less steel, titanium alloy, polymers, and ceramic composites, undergo degradation after 10 to 15 years of use. The common failures of joints are several. Wear and particulate debris are the most common ones. This research contains two components. The first component is to study the tribological performance of implant materials using tribological testing and surface characterization techniques. The second component is to synthesize new class of biomaterials combing live cells and conventional biocompatible materials. Beside cell culture experiments and materials testing, the interfaces between cells and materials will be investigated along with the functionality and performance.
