Smith & Nephew has a longstanding reputation for providing surgeons with technologies designed to maximize wear resistance. That reputation was built through market leading innovations such as our highly polished tibial baseplates, tibial locking mechanism and the award-winning OXINIUM^◊ Oxidized Zirconium. That history of innovation in implant endurance continues with the introduction of the VERILAST^◊ Technology.

In lab testing, Smith & Nephew demonstrated that the composition of the mating component has a significant influence in the wearresistance of the entire bearing couple (see chart¹ below).

Our testing shows that the wear of polyethylene combined with Cobalt Chrome increases under the clinically relevant, abrasive conditions. However, when combined with OXINIUM^◊ Oxidized Zirconium, wear resistance is maximized. This result is attributed tothe scratch resistance that OXINIUM^◊ provides.

Therefore, VERILAST^◊ Technology, the combination of OXINIUM^◊ Oxidized Zirconium and highly cross-linked polyethylene produces a knee implant system that maximizes wear resistance. Orthopaedic manufacturers have highly cross-linked polyethylene. Only Smith & Nephew has VERILAST^◊ Technology.

<sub>Clinical References
1. WEAR TESTING OF CROSSLINKED AND CONVENTIONAL UHMWPE AGAINST SMOOTH AND ROUGHENED FEMORAL COMPONENTS, Parikh, A; Morrison, M; Jani, S, Transactions of 53rd Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, 2007</sub>