Explore the Cranioplasty Example-52 to learn more about the many benefits of 3D printed PEEK skull implants

Cranioplasty Example-52: 3D Printed PEEK Cranial Implant

Due to severe head injury caused by a traffic accident, emergency craniotomy hematoma removal and decompression of bone flap were performed, and the area of the left temporal parietal skull defect was about 12cm×10cm. After 3 months of rehabilitation, the patient is stable and meets the indications for cranioplasty surgery. In view of the disadvantages of traditional titanium mesh implantation, such as metal artifacts and strong thermal conductivity, it was decided to use 3D printed PEEK (polyetheretherketone) skull implants for cranioplasty after evaluation by a multidisciplinary team (neurosurgery, medical imaging department, 3D printing center).

Prior to surgery, a 128-slice spiral CT was performed with a high-resolution scan of the patient's skull defect to obtain data in DICOM format. The data is imported into professional medical image processing software for 3D reconstruction to accurately outline the borders, shape, and depth of the skull defect. The 3D printing team used FFF 3D printing technology to print skull implants at a 1:1 scale using medical-grade PEEK as raw material. During the printing process, the process parameters are adjusted to form a porous structure on the surface of the implant, and the pore size is controlled at 200-500μm, which not only ensures the mechanical strength of the implant, but also facilitates the growth and vascularization of bone cells. After the printing is completed, the implants are strictly sterilized and sterilized.

On the day of surgery, after the patient was successfully anesthetized, he was placed in a supine position with his head tilted to the right side. The skin and subcutaneous tissue are incised along the original surgical incision, separated layer by layer to the edge of the skull defect, and the adherent dura mater and skull stump are carefully separated to avoid damage to the brain tissue. Pre-customized, 3D-printed PEEK skull implants are precisely attached to the skull defect and secured with matching polymer connectors and screws. During the operation, it was seen that the implant was tightly attached to the edge of the bone window, the gap was less than 1mm, and there was no obvious lifting or displacement. The operation went smoothly, and the intraoperative bleeding was about 50ml, and there were no complications such as cerebrospinal fluid leakage and intracranial hemorrhage.

3D printed PEEK skull implants offer a number of advantages. It has excellent biocompatibility and is similar to the elastic modulus of human bones, which can effectively avoid the stress blocking effect and reduce the risk of bone resorption and fracture around the implant. It does not affect MRI and CT examinations, and eliminates the interference of metal artifacts on subsequent imaging diagnosis; Stable chemical properties, strong corrosion resistance, no risk of metal ion precipitation; Moreover, through 3D printing technology, personalized customization can perfectly match the anatomical shape of the patient's skull and achieve good cosmetic results.

After the operation, the patient recovered well, his vital signs were stable, and he did not have fever, headache, dizziness and other uncomfortable symptoms. The incision heals, and there is no redness, swelling, or oozing. Follow-up CT of the head 1 week postoperatively showed that the PEEK implant was well positioned and tightly attached to the skull. At 3 months of follow-up after surgery, the appearance of the patient's head returned to normal, there was no obvious foreign body sensation, neurological function was restored satisfactorily, and daily life and work were not affected.

3D printing effect display