Mendaza-DeCal Rosa, Ballesteros Yolanda, Peso-Fernandez Salvador, Paz Eva, Del Real-Romero Juan Carlos, Rodriguez-Quiros Jesus
Animal Medicine and Surgery Department, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
ABAX Innovation Technologies, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain.
Front Vet Sci. 2022 Jun 30;9:887676. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.887676. eCollection 2022.
Exo-endoprosthesis is a limb salvage procedure for animals, although only expensive metal devices have been described. Now-a-days, new materials for this type of implant could be considered due to novel and affordable manufacturing techniques. However, a factor of safety (FoS) should be considered. There are kinetic and kinematic studies of canine natural gaits, which can be used to establish an FoS for mechanical tests for new non-metallic devices. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is used in different specialties in human medicine. Its mechanical properties (and its close mechanical stiffness to that of bone) make this polymer an alternative to metals in veterinary traumatology. PEEK could also be used in 3D printing. The suitability of a novel inner part of an exo-endoprosthesis manufactured by fuse deposition modeling (FDM) was presented in this study for long canine bones. Mechanical characterization of 3D-printed PEEK material and mechanical tests of a customized endoprosthesis were performed to address it. Young's modulus of 3D-printed PEEK suffered a reduction of 30% in relation to bulk PEEK. Customized 3D-printed PEEK endoprostheses had promising outcomes for the tibiae of 20 kg dogs. Pure compression tests of the non-inserted endoprostheses showed a maximum force of 936 ± 199 N. In the bending tests of non-inserted endoprostheses, the PEEK part remained intact. Quasistatic mechanical tests of bone-inserted endoprostheses (compression-bending and pure compression tests) reached a maximum force of 785 ± 101 N and 1,642 ± 447 N, respectively. In fatigue tests, the samples reached 500,000 cycles without failure or detriment to their quasistatic results. These outcomes surpass the natural weight-bearing of dogs, even during a galloping pace. In conclusion, the 3D-printed PEEK part of the endoprosthesis for an exo-endoprosthesis can withstand loading, even during a galloping pace.
外骨骼内置假体是一种用于动物的肢体挽救手术，不过目前所描述的仅有昂贵的金属装置。如今，由于新颖且经济实惠的制造技术，可以考虑用于此类植入物的新材料。然而，应考虑安全系数（FoS）。有关于犬类自然步态的动力学和运动学研究，可用于为新型非金属装置的力学测试确定安全系数。聚醚醚酮（PEEK）在人类医学的不同专业中都有应用。其机械性能（以及与骨骼相近的机械刚度）使这种聚合物成为兽医创伤学中金属的替代品。PEEK也可用于3D打印。本研究展示了通过熔融沉积建模（FDM）制造的外骨骼内置假体新型内部部件对于犬类长骨的适用性。对3D打印的PEEK材料进行了力学表征，并对定制的内置假体进行了力学测试以解决该问题。3D打印的PEEK的杨氏模量相对于块状PEEK降低了30%。定制的3D打印PEEK内置假体在20千克犬的胫骨上取得了有前景的结果。未植入的内置假体的纯压缩测试显示最大力为936±199牛。在未植入的内置假体的弯曲测试中，PEEK部件保持完好。植入骨骼的内置假体的准静态力学测试（压缩-弯曲和纯压缩测试）分别达到最大力785±101牛和1642±447牛。在疲劳测试中，样本达到500,000次循环而无失效情况，且未损害其准静态测试结果。这些结果甚至超过了犬类在飞奔时的自然承重。总之，外骨骼内置假体的3D打印PEEK部件即使在飞奔时也能承受负荷。
