BACKGROUND Disc arthroplasty is gaining popularity for treatment of low-back pain caused by degenerative disc disease (DDD). It can involve total disc replacement or partial disc or nucleus replacement (or augmentation). Compared with total disc replacement, nucleus replacement is less invasive, has less surgical risk, has faster postoperative recovery, and doesn't "burn bridges" should further...

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and its fiber-reinforced materials are thermoplastic polymer with broad application prospects. Depositing Ni-P alloy on them can improve their poor conductivity electromagnetic shielding performance, further expand field. The effect of the plated parts is significantly impacted by bonding strength between PEEK coating. non-metallic substrate coating largely influence...

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a biocompatible polymer widely used for biomedical applications. Because it biologically inert, bioactive phases, such as nano-hydroxyapatite (HA), have been added to PEEK in order improve its bioactivity. 3D printing (3DP) technologies are being increasingly today manufacture patient specific devices and implants. However, processing of challenging due high melti...

IMPORTANCE Visual acuity is the most frequently performed measure of visual function in clinical practice and most people worldwide living with visual impairment are living in low- and middle-income countries. OBJECTIVE To design and validate a smartphone-based visual acuity test that is not dependent on familiarity with symbols or letters commonly used in the English language. DESIGN, SETT...

Background High tibial osteotomy (HTO) is a valuable treatment option in the high-demand patient with chondral damage and an altered mechanical axis. Traditional opening wedge HTO performed with metal plates has several limitations, including hardware irritation, obscuration of detail on magnetic resonance imaging, and complexity of revision surgery. Recently, an all-polyetheretherketone (PEEK)...

Introduction: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) as a biomaterial has been used in spinal implants since the 1990s. Initially, it was used for plating and interbody systems, but recently PEEK has been utilized in the posterior regions of the spine as spinal rods. The concepts of “better load sharing” and “less bone-screw interface stresses” are terms that have arisen to describe lumbar PEEK spinal dev...

BACKGROUND Both the material and geometry of a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) component influence the induced periprosthetic bone strain field. Strain, a measure of the local relative deformation in a structure, corresponds to the mechanical stimulus that governs bone remodeling and is therefore a useful in vitro biomechanical measure for assessing the response of bone to new implant designs and...

Abstract Polyether-etherketone (PEEK) is a corrosion-resistant material that has been widely used in aqueous lubrication. However, its anti-wear performance must be improved for application the industry. In this study, to improve of PEEK boundary lubrication, PEEK/MoS 2 composites were prepared by ball-milling and spark plasma sintering processes. A competitive MoS mechanism between low shear s...

BACKGROUND Anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) is challenging with respect to both patient selection and choice of surgical procedure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of ACDF, with respect to both patient selection and choice of surgical procedure: fusion with an autologous iliac crest graft (AICG) versus fusion with an artificial cage made of polyethereth...