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EOS’ Collaborative Projects Coordinator Joerg Lenz delivered a previously unpublished technical paper on the results of a European Union-funded project called Custom-IMD on plastic implants, titled “Laser Sintering of PEEK.”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 lasersintering 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 CTscan 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.