Polyetheretherketone, or PEEK, was originally developed in the late 1970s by the US aerospace industry, which was taken by its properties of stability at high temperatures and thus its potential for high-load, high-temperature applications. In the late 1990s, a highly pure and implantable grade of PEEK known as PEEK-OPTIMA was commercialised by Invibio Biomaterial Solutions and subsequently embraced by the medical device industry. Since then, the use of medical grade PEEK has grown exponentially, as Dr Steve Kurtz, corporate vice-president and director of the biomedical engineering practice at Exponent, explains.
"Many medical device manufacturers now use implantable PEEK as a way to improve the biocompatibility of load-bearing implants. It makes implants much more bone-friendly and is also much more compatible with diagnostic imaging than metal implants.