Mechanical performances of hip implant design and fabrication with PEEK composite

Abstract

Artificial bone implant materials need porosity for nutrient distribution, moderate pore size to provide cell cultures and bone-like mechanical properties. The homogenisation of discrepancies between the microstructure of implants and bone is an important subject. This research aims to design microstructures with poly ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) and its composites to improve the compatibility of implants. Porous hip bone implants fabricated by fused deposition modelling (FDM) are proposed to mimic natural bone with various homogenisation lattice structures and excellent properties. Five isotropic lattice structures with homogenisation control strategies are printed with PEEK and composite PEEK with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and calcium hydroxyapatite (cHAp). An examination is performed on a three-dimensional (3D) distribution of the effective module surface of the five composite porous unit lattice structures. The relationship between the modulus of elasticity, anisotropy and cell parameters are thoroughly investigated by finite element analysis (FEA). Analysis of the surface treatment used to create micropores in the scaffolding and the nanostructure yields a bioactive PEEK/hydroxyapatite (HAp) composite with various control configuration distributions and cell growths. The functionalised biocompatibility and degradability of rGO/HAp composite in various ratios to PEEK, and their nanostructure arrays, are studied by a surface functionalisation approach. The improved design eliminates slight imperfections, allowing for a more stable structure. The controlled homogenisation, porosity and particle size distribution helps to increase cellular infiltration and biological integration of the PEEK and hip implant composites.