PEEK Biomaterials Handbook

PEEK biomaterials are currently used in thousands of spinal fusion patients around the world every year. Durability, biocompatibility and excellent resistance to aggressive sterilization procedures make PEEK a polymer of choice replacing metal in orthopedic implants, from spinal implants and hip replacements to finger joints and dental implants.

This Handbook brings together experts in many different facets related to PEEK clinical performance as well as in the areas of materials science, tribology, and biology to provide a complete reference for specialists in the field of plastics, biomaterials, medical device design and surgical applications.

Steven Kurtz, author of the well respected UHMWPE Biomaterials Handbook and Director of the Implant Research Center at Drexel University, has developed a one-stop reference covering the processing and blending of PEEK, its properties and biotribology, and the expanding range of medical implants using PEEK: spinal implants, hip and knee replacement, etc.

Covering materials science, tribology and applications, Kurtz provides a complete reference for specialists in the field of plastics, biomaterials, biomedical engineering and medical device design and surgical applications.

As a principle engineer at Exponent, an international engineering and scientific consulting company, his research on UHMWPE is supported by several major orthopedic manufacturers. He has funding from the National Institutes for Health to stdy UHMWPE changes after implanatation in the body, as well as to develop new computer-based tools to predict the performance of new UHMWPE materials.

Dr. Kurtz is the Director of an orthopedic implant retrieval program in Philadelphia which is affiliated with Drexel University and Thomas Jefferson University. He teaches classes on the performance of orthopedic polymers (including UHMWPE) at Drexel, Temple, and Princeton Universities.