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1.1 This practice covers a procedure for the fatigue testing of metallic femoral hip prostheses used in hip joint replacements. This practice covers the procedures for the performance of fatigue tests on metallic femoral hip stems using a cyclic, constant-amplitude force. It applies to hip prostheses that utilize proximal metaphyseal fixation and are of a modular construct, and it is intended to evaluate the fatigue performance of the modular connections in the metaphyseal filling (that is, proximal body) region of the stem.

1.2 This practice is intended to provide useful, consistent, and reproducible information about the fatigue performance of metallic hip prostheses while held in a proximally fixated manner, with the distal end not held by a potting medium.

1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

4.1 This practice can be used to describe the effects of materials, manufacturing, and design variables on the fatigue performance of metallic femoral hip prostheses subject to cyclic loading for large numbers of cycles.

4.2 The loading of femoral hip designs in vivo will, in general, differ from the loading defined in this practice. The results obtained here cannot be used to directly predict in vivo performance. However, this practice is designed to allow for comparisons between the fatigue performance of different metallic femoral hip designs, when tested under similar conditions.

4.3 In order for fatigue data on femoral hip prostheses to be comparable, reproducible, and capable of being correlated among laboratories, it is essential that uniform procedures be established.