Heavy metal: Perspectives on the controversy surrounding metal-on-metal hip implants

Metal-on-metal hip implants have recently attracted considerable negative attention in the press on account of their high failure rates and complications in surrounding tissue caused by implant wear and subsequent wear particle formation. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have undergone hip replacement surgical procedures using these implants stand to be affected both medically and financially. In this research note, we briefly examine the issues relating to metal-on-metal hip implant function and explain how research on these issues is helping us to develop implants that are far more suitable for in vivo environments.