Thermal wave non-destructive thickness measurements of hydroxyapatite coatings applied to prosthetic hip stems

✍ Scribed by A. C. Bento; S. R. Brown; D. P. Almond; I. G. Turner

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 509 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0957-4530
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00120301

✦ Synopsis

Thermal wave interferometry is a non-destructive inspection technique that has been used successfully for the assessment of coating thickness. The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of the suitability of the technique for the measurement and characterization of hydroxyapatite coatings on commercially available prosthetic hip stems. The results indicate a good correlation between the coating thickness values obtained using the interferometry technique and measurements made using optical microscopy of sectioned stems. In addition the results confirm that thermal wave interferometry can be used to accurately assess the changes in coating thickness on samples with a complex geometry.