Cranial facial implant: made of the high-temperature, biocompatible Material EOS PEEK HP3.

The first PEEK craniofacial test implants to be produced with laser-sintering were presented by Munich, Germany-based EOS, at the co-located Pacific Design & Manufacturing/MD&M West shows held earlier this month in Anaheim.

EOS’ Collaborative Projects Coordinator Joerg Lenz delivered a previously unpublished technical paper on the results of a European Union-funded project called Custom-IMD on plastic implants, titled “Laser Sintering of PEEK.” The test implants were fabricated in Germany using the EOSINT P 800 system (the first laser-sintering system worldwide operating at up to 385ºC for processing high-performance polymers) and were displayed at the EOS booth after Lenz’s presentation.

High-temperature, biocompatible PEEK (polyaryletherketone) material is being used as an alternative to titanium for craniofacial implants (produced from CT-scan geometry) for patients with head injuries or congenital deformities. Lenz’s paper documents the first validated in vivo (animal) results for laser-sintered PEEK.

“Conventional manufacturing technology can’t produce patient-customized craniofacial implants, either titanium or PEEK, as economically or in as short a time span as laser-sintering,” says Lenz. “What’s more, EOS technology has enabled us to develop a specific geometry that can only be realized using additive manufacturing. This new design incorporates a mesh scaffold that promotes improved bone growth and optimizes infiltration with a hydroxyapatite-filled, bioabsorbable polymer.”  The implants displayed at the EOS booth included one filled with the polymer.