Porous polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and bioactive hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced PEEK scaffolds have attracted recent interest for enabling biologic fixation of orthopaedic and spinal implants, such as interbody spinal fusion cages. Porous PEEK and HA-PEEK scaffolds have been prepared by compression molding and leaching a fugitive porogen, most commonly NaCl salt crystals which exhibit a cubic morphology. Ellipsoidal or spherical porogen particles have been suggested to improve pore interconnectivity and permeability in scaffolds through improved porogen particle contact compared with a cubic porogen, but a direct comparison without concomitant effects from other factors is lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the porogen morphology on the architecture, permeability, and mechanical properties of bioactive HA whisker reinforced PEEK scaffolds. HA whisker reinforced PEEK scaffolds were prepared using a cubic or ellipsoidal NaCl porogen of equivalent size at multiple, equivalent levels of porosity and a constant level of HA reinforcement. Scaffolds prepared with an ellipsoidal porogen exhibited greater pore interconnectivity, indicated by a lower specific surface area measured by micro-computed tomography, and greater permeability than scaffolds prepared with a cubic porogen at 75–85% porosity. Compressive mechanical properties were not affected by the porogen morphology. Thus, an ellipsoidal porogen facilitated improved pore interconnectivity and permeability without compromising mechanical properties, and offers a means to circumvent an otherwise inherent design tradeoff between the benefit of increased porosity on permeability and the detriment of increased porosity on mechanical properties.

多孔聚醚醚酮（PEEK）和生物活性羟基磷灰石（HA）增强的PEEK支架最近吸引了人们的兴趣，使它们能够对骨科和脊柱植入物进行生物固定，例如椎间融合器。多孔PEEK和HA-PEEK支架是通过压缩成型和浸出逃逸性致孔剂制备的，最常见的是呈立方形态的NaCl盐晶体。已经提出，与立方致孔剂相比，椭圆形或球形致孔剂颗粒通过改善的致孔剂颗粒接触来改善支架中的孔互连性和渗透性，但是缺乏没有其他因素的伴随影响的直接比较。因此，本研究的目的是研究致孔剂形态对结构，通透性，活性HA晶须增强PEEK支架的力学性能和力学性能。HA晶须增强的PEEK支架是使用具有相同大小的立方或椭圆形NaCl致孔剂，在多个相同的孔隙度和恒定的HA增强水平下制备的。用椭圆形致孔剂制备的支架表现出更大的孔连通性，这表明用微计算机断层扫描仪测得的比表面积较低，并且比在75-85％孔隙率下用立方致孔剂制备的支架表现出更大的渗透性。压缩机械性能不受致孔剂形态的影响。因此，椭圆形致孔剂有助于改善孔的互连性和渗透性，而不会影响机械性能，