In vitro wear study of PEEK and CFRPEEK against UHMWPE for artificial cervical disc application

Total cervical disc replacement aims at avoiding fusion for the treatment of degenerative disc disease. This paper investigates the wear performances of PEEK and CFRPEEK against UHMWPE for artificial cervical disc application on a knee wear simulator due to the unavailability of a spinal one. The obtained results showed that the average wear rates of PEEK-on-UHMWPE and CFRPEEK-on-UHMWPE were 3.82 mg/MC and 2.34 mg/MC, respectively. The edge area of the bearing surfaces displayed severer wear in comparison with the central zone and was dominated by arc-shaped wear tracks. The main wear mechanisms were abrasion, adhesion and fatigue wear. CFRPEEK-on-UHMWPE has demonstrated superior wear characteristics, and hence, is a potential material configuration for artificial cervical disc application.