EOS Shows Potential of PEEK at PD&M/MD&M West

PEEK craniofacial test implants produced with laser sintering will be presented by EOS, at the co-located Pacific Design & Manufacturing/MD&M West shows at the Anaheim, CA, convention center, Feb. 8-10, 2011.

EOS’ Collaborative Projects Coordinator, Joerg Lenz, will deliver a previously unpublished technical paper on the results of a European Union-funded project called Custom-IMD on plastic implants, titled “Laser Sintering of PEEK,” during an afternoon Session 303 on Feb. 9. The test implants were fabricated in Germany using the EOSINT P 800 system. The implants will be on display at EOS booth #3600 after Lenz’s presentation.

High-temperature, biocompatible PAEK (polyaryletherketone) material is increasingly 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, bio-absorbable polymer.” 

The implants displayed at the EOS booth will include one filled with the polymer.

Scott Killian of Royal Engineered Composites, the first American user of the P 800, will also be at the EOS booth to discuss his company’s use of the machine and show sample geometries of PEEK medical and aerospace parts. There will be a working FORMIGA P 100 laser-sintering system at the booth as well as metal parts produced with direct metal laser-sintering (DMLS). 

For more information, visit EOS.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.