Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction
Additive manufacturing (AM) of patient-specific implants (PSIs) is gradually moving towards in-house or point-of-care (POC) manufacturing. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been used in cranioplasty cases as a reliable alternative to other alloplastic materials. As only a few fused filament fabricatio...
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| author | Neha Sharma Soheila Aghlmandi Shuaishuai Cao Christoph Kunz Philipp Honigmann Florian M. Thieringer |
| author_facet | Neha Sharma Soheila Aghlmandi Shuaishuai Cao Christoph Kunz Philipp Honigmann Florian M. Thieringer |
| author_sort | Neha Sharma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Additive manufacturing (AM) of patient-specific implants (PSIs) is gradually moving towards in-house or point-of-care (POC) manufacturing. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been used in cranioplasty cases as a reliable alternative to other alloplastic materials. As only a few fused filament fabrication (FFF) printers are suitable for in-house manufacturing, the quality characteristics of the implants fabricated by FFF technology are still under investigated. This paper aimed to investigate PEEK PSIs fabricated in-house for craniofacial reconstruction, discussing the key challenges during the FFF printing process. Two exemplary cases of class III (Group 1) and class IV (Group 2) craniofacial defects were selected for the fabrication of PEEK PSIs. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array was selected for the following nonthermal printing process parameters, i.e., layer thickness, infill rate, number of shells, and infill pattern, and an assessment of the dimensional accuracy of the fabricated implants was made. The root mean square (RMS) values revealed higher deviations in Group 1 PSIs (0.790 mm) compared to Group 2 PSIs (0.241 mm). Horizontal lines, or the characteristic FFF stair-stepping effect, were more perceptible across the surface of Group 1 PSIs. Although Group 2 PSIs revealed no discoloration, Group 1 PSIs displayed different zones of crystallinity. These results suggest that the dimensional accuracy of PSIs were within the clinically acceptable range; however, attention must be paid towards a requirement of optimum thermal management during the printing process to fabricate implants of uniform crystallinity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:40:56Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:40:56Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-86c084f313654b39ae53be516adf8c852023-11-20T12:00:19ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832020-08-0199281810.3390/jcm9092818Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial ReconstructionNeha Sharma0Soheila Aghlmandi1Shuaishuai Cao2Christoph Kunz3Philipp Honigmann4Florian M. Thieringer5Department of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, CH-4031 Basel, SwitzerlandBasel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, CH-4031 Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, CH-4031 Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, CH-4031 Basel, SwitzerlandMedical Additive Manufacturing Research Group (Swiss MAM), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, CH-4123 Allschwil, SwitzerlandDepartment of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, CH-4031 Basel, SwitzerlandAdditive manufacturing (AM) of patient-specific implants (PSIs) is gradually moving towards in-house or point-of-care (POC) manufacturing. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been used in cranioplasty cases as a reliable alternative to other alloplastic materials. As only a few fused filament fabrication (FFF) printers are suitable for in-house manufacturing, the quality characteristics of the implants fabricated by FFF technology are still under investigated. This paper aimed to investigate PEEK PSIs fabricated in-house for craniofacial reconstruction, discussing the key challenges during the FFF printing process. Two exemplary cases of class III (Group 1) and class IV (Group 2) craniofacial defects were selected for the fabrication of PEEK PSIs. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array was selected for the following nonthermal printing process parameters, i.e., layer thickness, infill rate, number of shells, and infill pattern, and an assessment of the dimensional accuracy of the fabricated implants was made. The root mean square (RMS) values revealed higher deviations in Group 1 PSIs (0.790 mm) compared to Group 2 PSIs (0.241 mm). Horizontal lines, or the characteristic FFF stair-stepping effect, were more perceptible across the surface of Group 1 PSIs. Although Group 2 PSIs revealed no discoloration, Group 1 PSIs displayed different zones of crystallinity. These results suggest that the dimensional accuracy of PSIs were within the clinically acceptable range; however, attention must be paid towards a requirement of optimum thermal management during the printing process to fabricate implants of uniform crystallinity.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/9/2818additive manufacturing3D printingcraniofacialcustomizeddimensional accuracyfused filament fabrication |
| spellingShingle | Neha Sharma Soheila Aghlmandi Shuaishuai Cao Christoph Kunz Philipp Honigmann Florian M. Thieringer Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction Journal of Clinical Medicine additive manufacturing 3D printing craniofacial customized dimensional accuracy fused filament fabrication |
| title | Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction |
| title_full | Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction |
| title_fullStr | Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction |
| title_short | Quality Characteristics and Clinical Relevance of In-House 3D-Printed Customized Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Implants for Craniofacial Reconstruction |
| title_sort | quality characteristics and clinical relevance of in house 3d printed customized polyetheretherketone peek implants for craniofacial reconstruction |
| topic | additive manufacturing 3D printing craniofacial customized dimensional accuracy fused filament fabrication |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/9/2818 |
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