Stresses in polyethylene liners in a semiconstrained ankle prosthesis.

A finite element model of a semiconstrained ankle implant with the tibia and fibula was constructed so that the stresses in the polyethylene liner could be computed. Two different widths of talar components were studied and proximal boundary conditions were computed from an inverse process providing a load of five times body weight appropriately distributed across the osseous structures. von Mises stresses indicated small regions of localized yielding and contact stresses that were similar to those in acetabular cup liners. A wider talar component with 36% more surface area reduced contact stress and von Mises stresses at the center of the polyethylene component by 17%.