When it comes to manufacturing various types of medical equipment, the role of PEEK plastic is quite essential. Read the interesting facts below.
Have you ever wondered why polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is so popular in medical device manufacturing companies and healthcare centers? If yes, keep reading as this article will reveal to you the important role of PEEK plastic in medical equipment.
Historically, the use of PEEK plastic as a medical device has gotten to the stage in which its value need not be announced again, thanks to the properties of this advanced equipment for making it uniquely suitable for the human body. Before any medical equipment is put into circulation, new or used, it has to pass some tests to ensure that it is the right fit. For example, if an optician is looking for Ophthalmic Equipment, they must go to a trusted source that has thoroughly had it checked and certified.
Medical devices are made with extreme care and effort, as they have to work flawlessly. Quality control, therefore, is absolutely essential, which prompts the necessity of a good QMS system to be employed in the process. Manufacturers that use quality control tend to have more reliable and popular PEEK plastic equipment.
Similarly, while buying the new equipment as well, an optometry business might have to look for a trusted supplier when it comes to small businesses. When exploring the vendors, the professionals can take the assistance of an optometry buying group to get contacts. These suppliers can provide high-quality PEEK plastic equipment.
Technically, PEEK is an engineered plastic medical component with high rates of performance. It is one of the go-to materials of choice when it comes to trauma fixation and spinal implants.
Its roles and importance in cardiovascular implants, dentistry, and orthopedic surgery cannot be overemphasized. In the past, titanium metals were often used for all these purposes, but now, PEEK is the reigning medical equipment in charge of many areas.
In addition, more medical uses for polyetheretherketone are on the horizon due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the material properties are being explored, test, and improved upon by medical equipment manufacturers now and then.
Without further delay, the following are the important role of PEEK plastic in medical equipment.
1. It Helps in Radiolucency X-ray Passage
The PEEK rapid inclination in medicine and surgery has made it the core challenger to conventional titanium implants, and it is leading in many areas. One of these areas is Radiolucency.
PEEK as a piece of medical equipment has radiolucency; a property meant for allowing the passage of huge amount of x-rays substances to conveniently pass through it and as such, paving ways for darkened images that appears on x-ray films.
That being said, Radiolucency also aids surgeons to easily monitor the healing progress after a surgical procedure. Such is one of the roles of PEEK plastic in medical equipment.
2. It Enhances Safety and Efficacy in Spinal Implants
Over the years, the PEEK plastic has been widely accepted by different surgeons of different personalities for long-term use for in-body applications and dumped other plastic or conventional metals.
Primarily, PEEK’s medical application was to be used as a spinal implant. Its roles in the material substance, efficacy, and safety have been proven over countless numbers of research and application. Its credits can be attributed to experts similar to those available at idrmedical.com.
Today, PEEK plastic still plays an important role in spinal implant procedures, perhaps, future developments may be magnanimous enough to position it as the best and most effective available option for a wider range of patients.
For instance, patients that are suffering from degenerative scoliosis, degenerative spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, and other spine-related problems can find comfort in the spinal cage or spacer usage.
3. Beneficial to Optimal Trauma Fixation
Most importantly, the role of PEEK plastic in medical equipment that is meant for trauma fixation cannot be jest with. As a matter of fact, PEEK use during trauma fixation surgery has become increasingly important these days.
What is more, surgeons that are in dire need of metal components of medical devices alternative have found PEEK plastic to be a perfect fit when fabricating screws, bone plates, anchors, nails, and others.
Besides, with PEEK, surgeons can see how exactly their patients react at the injury scene after surgery, thus allowing them to correctly track and predict the healing progression.
Also, its modulus enhances an optimal fusion of stiffness and flexibility in other to make sure that the fixation process doesn’t anyway affect the body’s self-healing processes.
4. It Enhances Excellent Dental Abrasion and Comprehensive Resistance
The PEEK role in enhancing excellent abrasion and efficient resistance in dental surgery is overwhelming. This medical equipment works well in dentistry for so many reasons.
Its use in dentistry is firm and well-established as it is often incorporated into any dental removable partial dentures. It aids abrasion so well so that the tooth will be able to handle chewing or tearing motions.
Similarly, while it’s apparent that the PEEK radiolucency is vital to dental professionals, it also at the same time provides unmatched comfort and pleasantry to patients too.
By and large, findings show that patients with PEEK plastic as a medical device reported positive outcomes with respect to the PEEK dental implants. They claimed it looked natural on them when they wear it, it doesn’t affect their taste, they feel comfortable, and it does not produce any sores or allergic reaction.
5. It Help Stabilizes the Ventricle During Cardiovascular Surgery
In the same vein, the PEEK plastic medical device plays a very vital role in cardiovascular surgeries most especially, when the “Less Invasive Ventricular Enhancement” (LIVE) procedure is often used for heart correction after myocardial infarction.
The LIVE procedure is sometimes preferable to one other method known as the Surgical Ventricular Restoration (SVR). During this procedure, the heart must be paused, and the surgeon will be faced with folds of very precise incisions.
However, the LIVE procedure doesn’t require the heart to be stopped. Only two anchors are needed to be placed over the (left) ventricle and tied together with PEEK tether. The PEEK stabilizes the left ventricle and gives room for the heart to properly function.
6. It Aids Easy Manipulation for Orthopedic Patients
The PEEK plastic medical equipment is also valuable in the orthopedic department. It makes manipulation of joints and limbs easier for orthopedic patients.
This plastic medical device is patiently gaining traction in the orthopedics department where it can be easily utilized in a broader area of procedures. This, therefore, includes the hip and knee arthroplasty, total and partial replacement applications, etc.
Have it in mind that the orthopedic surgical team’s primary objective is proper weight-bearing which can possibly preserve the natural function of the limb or joint. Surprisingly, PEEK makes this task easier to accomplish as it has a bone-like modulus that could bear the weights and stroll like bone.
The Importance of PEEK Plastic
While the important role of PEEK plastic in medical equipment is beyond comprehension, its success in all the aforementioned lies in its natural translucent, high chemical resistance, biocompatibility, strength, and stiffness attributes of the PEEK medical device.
