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REVIEW ARTICLE

Fused Deposition Modeling PEEK Implants for

Personalized Surgical Application: From Clinical Need

to Biofabrication

Lei Wang , Chuncheng Yang , Changning Sun 2,3† , Xiaolong Yan , Jiankang He , Changquan Shi ,
2
2†
1
2,3
1†
Chaozong Liu , Dichen Li *, Tao Jiang *, Lijun Huang *
1
1
4
2,3
1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, 710038, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
2 State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing System Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710054, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
3 National Medical Products Administration Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing
Medical Devices, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710054, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
4 Institute of Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Science, Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College
London, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London, UK
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: Three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology is suitable for manufacturing personalized orthopedic implants for
reconstruction surgery. Compared with traditional titanium, polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is the ideal material for 3DP
orthopedic implants due to its various advantages, including thermoplasticity, thermal stability, high chemical stability, and
radiolucency suitable elastic modulus. However, it is challenging to develop a well-designed method and manufacturing
technique to meet the clinical needs because it requires elaborate details and interplays with clinical work. Furthermore,
establishing surgical standards for new implants requires many clinical cases and an accumulation of surgical experience.
Thus, there are few case reports on using 3DP PEEK implants in clinical practice. Herein, we formed a team with a lot of
engineers, scientists, and doctors and conducted a series of studies on the 3DP PEEK implants for chest wall reconstruction.
First, the thoracic surgeons sort out the specific types of chest wall defects. Then, the engineers designed the shape of the
implant and performed finite element analysis for every implant. To meet the clinical needs and mechanical requirements
of implants, we developed a new fused deposition modeling technology to make personalized PEEK implants. Overall, the
thoracic surgeons have used 114 personalized 3DP PEEK implants to reconstruct the chest wall defect and further established
the surgical standards of the implants as part of the Chinese clinical guidelines. The surface modification technique and
composite process are developed to overcome the new clinical problems of implant-related complications after surgery.
Finally, the major challenges and possible solutions to translating 3DP PEEK implants into a mature and prevalent clinical
product are discussed in the paper.
Keywords: Three-dimensional printing; Fused deposition modeling; Polyether-ether-ketone; Chest wall reconstruction

*Correspondence to: Lijun Huang, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, 710038, Xi’an, Shaanxi,
China; hljyxq@fmmu.edu.cn; Tao Jiang, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, 710038, Xi’an,
Shaanxi, China; jiangtaochest@163.com; Dichen Li, State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing System Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University,
710054, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China; dcli@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
Received: April 11, 2022; Accepted: May 31, 2022; Published Online: September 9, 2022

Citation: Wang L, Yang C, Sun C, et al., 2022, Fused Deposition Modeling PEEK Implants for Personalized Surgical Application: From
Clinical Need to Biofabrication. Int J Bioprint, 8(4): 615. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v8i4.615
1. Introduction convert computer graphic design data into models
or products [1,2] . Given its additive manufacturing
Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is a novel characteristics, it can quickly produce, save resources,
manufacturing technology. 3DP technology can directly and manufacture products of any shape. 3DP technology
© 2022 Author(s). This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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