Bioactive Polyaryletherketone Composites

Publisher Summary This chapter introduces a paradigm for the design of bioactive polyaryletherketone PAEK composites for biomedical devices. The clinical and commercial success of PAEK implants in interbody spinal fusion was enabled by several advantageous properties. PAEK polymers are generally biocompatible, bioinert, and radiolucent; PAEK polymers also exhibit a high strength and similar compliance to bone. The design of bioactive PAEK composites is considered within the framework of processing–structure–property relationships common to materials science and engineering. The processing, structure, and properties of the materials used in a biomedical device have great influence on the device performance. PAEK composites can be prepared by compounding and injection molding, cold pressing and pressureless sintering, compression molding, and selective laser sintering. The latter three methods can also be used to produce macroporous PAEK scaffolds. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Compounding and injection molding is amenable to low-cost, high-volume commercial manufacturing of net shapes with a dense microstructure. Standard PAEK beads for injection molding may be used since bioactive reinforcements are mixed into the molten polymer by shear flow during compounding. Cold pressing and pressureless sintering require low overhead equipment costs and are amenable to almost any level of reinforcement during processing. Compression molding is similar to injection molding in relatively low-cost, high-volume commercial manufacturing of net shapes with a dense microstructure, except that production rates are slightly lower and machining may be required to attain nongeometric shapes. Numerous gaps in the current state of knowledge for bioactive PAEK composites have been noted.