Evaluation of poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) for cervical disc replacement devices

Xin, Hua (2014). Evaluation of poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) for cervical disc replacement devices. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is a high performance aromatic thermoplastic with proven biocompatibility. Recently, it has been proposed as a promising bearing material for cervical total disc replacement (TDR). A new bearing combination of PEEK-on-PEEK based self-mating articulation has been used, which may overcome current bearing materials related complications.
For ball-on-socket based cervical TDR designs, PEEK based bearing articulation is expected to operate under a boundary lubrication regime regardless of the radial clearance used. The contact stress encountered by the bearing surfaces is insufficient to result in either material yield or fatigue failure.
High-cycle fatigue tests were performed on PEEK 450G specimens via three-point flexural bending. The obtained fatigue results (104.1 ± 5.8 MPa) show superiority over the historical polymeric bearing material UHMWPE (31 MPa). Moreover, it demonstrates a good resistance to sterilisation and thermal ageing. Laboratory wear simulation was also conducted, using spine simulators and following ISO 18192-1 standard. For PEEK-on-PEEK self-mating articulation, a steady state wear rate of 1.0 ± 0.9 mg/million cycles is obtained, which is comparable as the historical bearing combination (UHMWPE against CoCrMo). The results of this work suggest that PEEK-on-PEEK based articulation is a possible alternative for future cervical TDR designs.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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