Insight into the wear particles of PEEK and CFRPEEK against UHMWPE for artificial cervical disc application: Morphology and immunoreaction

Artificial cervical disc is a key device for artificial cervical disc replacement (ACDR). In our previous study, we developed PEEK-on-UHMWPE and CFRPEEK-on-UHMWPE tribo-parings for artificial cervical disc application. To further evaluate the biotribological properties and potential inflammation responses of their by-products, the size distribution and morphological characteristics of collected post-test wear particles as well as the biological response of aggregated particles were studied. Our results indicated that the majority of these wear particles were in a size range of 0.05–25 μm and the possibility of immunoreaction was small. Thus, we provide further evidence from the wear particles' point of view to suggest that CFRPEEK-on-UHMWPE can be considered as the potential paring for artificial cervical disc application. [Display omitted] •The wear particles were in a size range of 0.05–25 μm.•The possibility of immunoreaction induced by the particles was small.•CFRPEEK-on-UHMWPE can be considered as a paring for artificial cervical disc.