Purpose

The potential implications of the three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology are growing enormously in the various health-care sectors, including surgical planning, manufacturing of patient-specific implants and developing anatomical models. Although a wide range of thermoplastic polymers are available as 3DP feedstock, yet obtaining biocompatible and structurally integrated biomedical devices is still challenging owing to various technical issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is an organic and biocompatible compound material that is recently being used to fabricate complex design geometries and patient-specific implants through 3DP. However, the thermal and rheological features of PEEK make it difficult to process through the 3DP technologies, for instance, fused filament fabrication. The present review paper presents a state-of-the-art literature review of the 3DP of PEEK for potential biomedical applications. In particular, a special emphasis has been given on the existing technical hurdles and possible technological and processing solutions for improving the printability of PEEK.

Findings

The reviewed literature highlighted that there exist numerous scientific and technical means which can be adopted for improving the quality features of the 3D-printed PEEK-based biomedical structures. The discussed technological innovations will help the 3DP system to enhance the layer adhesion strength, structural stability, as well as enable the printing of high-performance thermoplastics.

Originality/value

The content of the present manuscript will motivate young scholars and senior scientists to work in exploring high-performance thermoplastics for 3DP applications.

中文翻译：

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专用生物医学设备的熔融长丝印刷：PEEK技术可行性的最新综述

目的

三维打印（3DP）技术的潜在含义在各个医疗保健领域中都在迅速增长，包括外科手术计划，特定患者植入物的制造以及解剖模型的开发。尽管各种各样的热塑性聚合物可用作3DP原料，但是由于各种技术问题，获得生物相容性和结构整合的生物医学装置仍然是一项挑战。

设计/方法/方法

聚醚醚酮（PEEK）是一种有机且生物相容的复合材料，最近被用于通过3DP制造复杂的设计几何形状和针对患者的植入物。但是，PEEK的热和流变特性使其难以通过3DP技术进行加工，例如，熔丝制造。本篇综述文章对潜在生物医学应用的PEEK 3DP进行了最新的文献综述。尤其要特别强调现有的技术障碍以及可能的技术和加工解决方案，以提高PEEK的可印刷性。

发现

审查的文献强调，存在许多可用于改善3D打印的基于PEEK的生物医学结构的质量特征的科学和技术手段。讨论中的技术创新将帮助3DP系统增强层的粘合强度，结构稳定性，并实现高性能热塑性塑料的印刷。

创意/价值

本手稿的内容将激励年轻的学者和资深科学家努力探索用于3DP应用的高性能热塑性塑料。