Composites for surgical instruments

Traditionally, medical products are being produced by machining the final geometry out of a metal alloy or composite material block. Carbon composites have outstanding properties for medical applications, both for instruments and implants. While generally being more costly in purchasing, they are increasingly competitive when considering the total cost-of-care.

X-ray translucent and extremely durable

The aiming arms are guiding aids used to align the surgical tools with the bone plate’s holes during surgery. Throughout their service life, they receive relatively low mechanical loads but undergo many sterilisation cycles.

Medical parts such as surgical guides must demonstrate excellent dimensional accuracy and stability overtime against wear, moisture intake, hydrolysis and thermal cycling. Additionally, X-ray translucency is crucial, as it enables the in-situ verification of the correct position of the whole fixation system.

Carbon fiber enhances medical instruments

For surgical orthopedic instruments - and in medtech in general - carbon composites can be a game changer. Multiple hybrid layups with both carbon fiber/PEKK and neat PEKK filament can be designed and combined to a final laminated structure. This is to optimize the carbon fiber placement according to the specific requirements of the application.