Mechanical Comparison of a Novel Hybrid and Commercial Dorsal Double Plating for Distal Radius Fracture: In Vitro Fatigue Four-Point Bending and Biomechanical Testing

This study compares the absolute and relative stabilities of a novel hybrid dorsal double plating (HDDP) to the often-used dorsal double plating (DDP) under distal radius fracture. The “Y” shape profile with 1.6 mm HDDP thickness was obtained by combining weighted topology optimization and finite element (FE) analysis and fabricated using Ti6Al4V alloy to perform the experimental tests. Static and fatigue four-point bending testing for HDDP and straight L-plate DDP was carried out to obtain the corresponding proof load, strength, and stiffness and the endurance limit (passed at 1 × 106 load cycles) based on the ASTM F382 testing protocol. Biomechanical fatigue tests were performed for HDDP and commercial DDP systems fixed on the composite Sawbone under physiological loads with axial loading, bending, and torsion to understand the relative stability in a standardized AO OTA 2R3A3.1 fracture model. The static four-point bending results showed that the corresponding average proof load values for HDDP and DDPs were 109.22 N and 47.36 N, that the bending strengths were 1911.29 N/mm and 1183.93 N/mm, and that the bending stiffnesses were 42.85 N/mm and 4.85 N/mm, respectively. The proof load, bending strength and bending stiffness of the HDDPs were all significantly higher than those of DDPs. The HDDP failure patterns were found around the fourth locking screw hole from the proximal site, while slight plate bending deformations without breaks were found for DDP. The endurance limit was 76.50 N (equal to torque 1338.75 N/mm) for HDDP and 37.89 N (equal to torque 947.20 N/mm) for DDP. The biomechanical fatigue test indicated that displacements under axial load, bending, and torsion showed no significant differences between the HDDP and DDP groups. This study concluded that the mechanical strength and endurance limit of the HDDP was superior to a commercial DDP straight plate in the four-point bending test. The stabilities on the artificial radius fractured system were equivalent for novel HDDP and commercial DDP under physiological loads in biomechanical fatigue tests.