Fused filament fabrication of radiopaque barium sulfate-reinforced polyetheretherketone composites for thin-walled patient-specific orbital reconstruction.
8 affiliations
- 1Clinic of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery and 3D Print Lab, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
- 2Medical Additive Manufacturing Research Group (Swiss MAM), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland.
- 33DSystems, Munich, Germany.
- 4Institute for Medical Engineering and Medical Informatics, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz, Switzerland.
- 5Center for Medical Image Analysis & Navigation (CIAN), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland.
- 6Clinic of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery and 3D Print Lab, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland. [email protected].
- 7Medical Additive Manufacturing Research Group (Swiss MAM), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland. [email protected].
- 8Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore. [email protected].
Abstract
Fused filament fabrication (FFF) of high-performance thermoplastic composites for medical applications remains challenging due to the need to meet geometric precision, mechanical, and functional requirements. This study presents the first systematic evaluation of FFF radiopaque barium sulfate-reinforced polyetheretherketone (BaSO₄-PEEK) for patient-specific orbital reconstruction, addressing dimensional accuracy, mechanical properties, and surgical precision in thin-walled implants. Six implants per material group (unfilled PEEK and 20 wt% BaSO₄-PEEK) with 0.8 mm nominal wall thickness and complex orbital geometries were fabricated and evaluated. Optical scanning showed submillimeter-level dimensional accuracy, with root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.31 ± 0.09 mm for unfilled PEEK and 0.33 ± 0.08 mm for BaSO₄-PEEK, confirming that incorporating an organic filler does not compromise manufacturability. Biomechanical testing revealed that FFF BaSO₄-PEEK implants maintained adequate puncture strength (17.58 ± 0.46 N/mm²), comparable to titanium mesh. Radiographically, BaSO₄-PEEK implants provided a 38% higher contrast-to-noise ratio than titanium and eliminated metal artefacts that obscured adjacent soft tissues. Cadaveric implantation demonstrated reconstruction accuracy (RMSE) of 0.61 ± 0.15 mm, which was better than that of manually contoured titanium mesh. These results establish FFF as a viable manufacturing method for complex, thin-walled, radiopaque PEEK composite orbital implants that provide sufficient dimensional control and mechanical performance in clinical scenarios.
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BibTeX
@article{oteiza2026fused,
title = {{Fused filament fabrication of radiopaque barium sulfate-reinforced polyetheretherketone composites for thin-walled patient-specific orbital reconstruction.}},
author = {Jokin Zubizarreta Oteiza and Yannick Krieger and Daniel Seiler and Philippe C Cattin and Florian M Thieringer and Neha Sharma},
journal = {Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1007/s10856-026-07111-5},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42902097},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fused filament fabrication of radiopaque barium sulfate-reinforced polyetheretherketone composites for thin-walled patient-specific orbital reconstruction.
AU - Jokin Zubizarreta Oteiza
AU - Yannick Krieger
AU - Daniel Seiler
AU - Philippe C Cattin
AU - Florian M Thieringer
AU - Neha Sharma
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine
DO - 10.1007/s10856-026-07111-5
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42902097
AB - Fused filament fabrication (FFF) of high-performance thermoplastic composites for medical applications remains challenging due to the need to meet geometric precision, mechanical, and functional requirements. This study presents the first systematic evaluation of FFF radiopaque barium sulfate-reinforced polyetheretherketone (BaSO₄-PEEK) for patient-specific orbital reconstruction, addressing dimensional accuracy, mechanical properties, and surgical precision in thin-walled implants. Six implants per material group (unfilled PEEK and 20 wt% BaSO₄-PEEK) with 0.8 mm nominal wall thickness and complex orbital geometries were fabricated and evaluated. Optical scanning showed submillimeter-level dimensional accuracy, with root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.31 ± 0.09 mm for unfilled PEEK and 0.33 ± 0.08 mm for BaSO₄-PEEK, confirming that incorporating an organic filler does not compromise manufacturability. Biomechanical testing revealed that FFF BaSO₄-PEEK implants maintained adequate puncture strength (17.58 ± 0.46 N/mm²), comparable to titanium mesh. Radiographically, BaSO₄-PEEK implants provided a 38% higher contrast-to-noise ratio than titanium and eliminated metal artefacts that obscured adjacent soft tissues. Cadaveric implantation demonstrated reconstruction accuracy (RMSE) of 0.61 ± 0.15 mm, which was better than that of manually contoured titanium mesh. These results establish FFF as a viable manufacturing method for complex, thin-walled, radiopaque PEEK composite orbital implants that provide sufficient dimensional control and mechanical performance in clinical scenarios.
SN - 0957-4530
SN - 1573-4838
ER -