Effect of vacuum mixer brand on tensile properties of acrylic bone cement

The effect of vacuum mixer brand is studied on six commercial bone cements, three with prophylactic doses of antibiotics and three without. The modulus of elasticity, ultimate tensile strength, maximum strain, and 0.2% yield strength was analysed. Bone cement specimens were manufactured and tested in accordance with ASTM D638 specifications using three different types of vacuum mixers in an operating room. The specimens were tested in a universal testing machine. Statistical analysis revealed that a proprietary mixer did not generally outperform the other two mixers for its own cement. It was found that the mixer had a significant effect on the results and that the Stryker/Simplex mixer generally outperformed Biomet and Zimmer. However, for the Simplex bone cement, the mixer type did not have a significant effect for most of the data analysed. The overall conclusion is that the proprietary mixer does not perform the best with its own cement.