S. Beauvais, O. Decaux, Terolab Surface S.A.S., Villeneuve le Roi, France
New advanced polymeric biomaterials such as PEEK are changing the face of the implantable medical device industry. Introduced in 1999, PEEK has been already used for orthopaedic and dental implants, cleared by FDA and CE – marked. Indeed, PEEK presents many advantages: it is biocompatible and its mechanical properties are very close to bone’s values. Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings are abundently used to improve the bone growth and repair around metallic implants. The purpose of this work is to study the feasibility of plasma sprayed HA coating on PEEK implant. Different PEEK (pure and composite) samples have been successfully coated with a 150 µm thick coating. Chemical and crystallographic compositions, adhesions and microstructures of HA coatings on PEEK and on TA6V have been compared. The results show that the two types of HA coatings are appreciably equivalent. Mechanical tests show that the plasma spraying step does not degrade the initial properties of the PEEK substrate. Furthermore in vitro experiments have been carried out to study the cellular response.The results of this study encourage to coat with HA the new implantable medical devices in PEEK.
Summary: New advanced polymeric biomaterials such as PEEK are changing the face of the implantable medical device industry. Introduced in 1999, PEEK has been already used for orthopaedic and dental implants. Indeed, PEEK presents many advantages: it is biocompatible and its modulus and density are closer to bone’s values than titanium alloys. Hydroxyapatite coatings are used to improve the bone growth and repair around metallic implant. The purpose of this study is to study the feasibility of plasma sprayed HA coating on PEEK implant.
