There have been no studies about the practicability and putative safety of PEEK cages in cervical spine infection. Now, researchers from the Medical Center of Friedrich-Schiller-University present the history of five patients suffering from neurological deficits and septicemia caused by mono- or bisegmental pyogenic cervical discitis and intraspinal abscess without severe bone destruction. Patients were treated surgically by discectomy, decompression, and ventral spondylodesis. The disc was replaced by a PEEK cage without additional fixation.  The clinical symptoms improved in all patients significantly. The authors propose that the use of PEEK cages represents a potential and safe alternative in the treatment of cervical spondylodiscitis in selected patients.

In this study, researchers from Aesculap tested alternative PEEK polymer-on-polymer articulations for cervical total disc arthroplasty with favourable biotribological properties and the benefit of radiolucency in comparison to the clinically well established metal-on-polyethylene coupling. In vitro wear simulation was performed according to ISO 18192-1:2008 (E) with the clinically introduced activ C cervical artificial disc (Aesculap AG Tuttlingen, Germany) made of UHMWPE/CoCr29Mo6 in a direct comparison to experimental disc articulations made of PEEK, CFR-PEEK and PEK. Whereas the polymer-on-polymer articulation of PEK showed no substantial benefit in comparison to polyethylene-on-cobalt-chromium and whereas natural PEEK tends towards pitting and delamination, the carbon fibre reinforced PEEK demonstrated an excellent wear behaviour with a reduction in order of a magnitude.

Strontium-containing hydroxyapatite/polyetheretherketone (Sr-HA/PEEK) composites were developed as alternative materials for load-bearing orthopaedic applications. The amount of strontium-containing hydroxyapatite (Sr-HA) incorporated into polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer matrix ranged from 15 to 30 vol% and the composites were successfully fabricated by compression molding technique. Strontium, in the form of strontium-containing hydroxyapatite (Sr-HA), was confirmed to enhance bioactivity in the PEEK composites.

PEEK lumbar fusion rods have recently become available for use in posterior lumbar fusion procedures. In this study, researchers from Jefferson and DePuy Spine performed biomechanical testing to evaluate PEEK rods in compressive bending and torsion. The rods were fabricated from an image-contrast grade of PEEK (6% BaSo4). Because of the flexibility of the PEEK rods, an angular displacement control variant of F1717 fatigue testing was performed in parallel with biomechanical studies in a cadaver model. PEEK rods provided comparable stability to titanium rods of equivalent diameter in cadaveric testing. Mechanical testing suggested that PEEK rods can withstand far beyond the angular displacements suggested by cadaveric testing and that of normal physiologic range of motion.

The interfacial properties of commercial poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) have been tailored by tethering polymeric brushes to the PEEK surface via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The immobilization of an ATRP initiator on the PEEK surface was achieved by an unprecedented simple two-step wet chemical method. Atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, water contact angle measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ascertained the successful grafting of these polymer brushes at the PEEK surface. These brush-modified PEEK surfaces exhibited fully the physiochemical properties of the respective polymer brush: the surface with polyMPS brush showed selective staining by electrostatic interaction, while the polyMeOEGMA-modified surface was biorepellent.