FossiLabs creates PEEK implants to promote bone growth

FossiLabs, based in the US, is a startup focused on the development of FDM 3D printers to produce PEEK medical implant devices. As you may have noticed, high-performance thermoplastics such as PEEK have gained a lot of attention in the last few years in the 3D printing sector. These materials offer key benefits to demanding sectors like aerospace and automotive such as temperature stability, chemical stability and mechanical properties. Yet, they are also more affordable than alternative solutions. In the medical sector, it’s their biocompatible properties that are of particular interest for implants.

The company FossiLabs’ aim is to promote bone growth in patients. As a result, it has developed a proprietary process to offer a first-of-its-kind 3D printed PEEK porous medical implant with defined areas of full porosity and advanced hydrophilicity to promote osseointegration. In other words, unlike other 3D printed PEEK implants, the entire piece has porous structures instead of only surface porosity or windows within defined layers.

VESTAKEEP PEEK pellets | Credits: Evonik

The Founder of FossiLabs, Todd Reith further explains: “Using 3D printing technology makes it possible to create a porous structure that would not be possible using traditional methods. The increased surface area and the full porosity encourage new bone on-growth and in-growth of the implant, leading to greater integration strength. Add hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocoating, now you have something unmatched in the industry.”