What materials are used for skull repair

Cranial repair surgery is used to treat patients with defects caused by cranial trauma and brain surgery. There is also a part of congenital cranial defect which is formed due to developmental or ossification disorder in embryonic period or ossification stop after birth, this kind is generally rare. At present, the materials for cranial bone repair are as follows: Choice of cranial bone repair materials: 1, titanium mesh material, i.e. titanium alloy material. It is a material with high usage rate at present. Its advantage is that it is cheap and cost-effective. Non-corrosive and firm. It can be forged and the cosmetic effect is better compared with bone cement and so on. But at the same time, there are certain risks, first of all, the problem of its metal material causes it to have higher thermal conductivity and poor thermal insulation, which may cause sensitivity to hot and cold reactions, and also the surgery of skull repair with titanium mesh is an overlay surgery, which is more irritating to the scalp. It is also less histocompatible and less resistant to pressure, so it results in it not being strong enough and easily deformed by force. There is also the presence of metallic artifacts. It may affect medical examinations, such as CT resonance, causing diagnostic interference. 2.Polyetheretherketone material, also known as peek material. It is an advanced material for treating skull defects. It is also one of the materials suitable to be selected for cranial repair surgery. Polyetheretherketone is a kind of polymer material which is comparable to human body’s own skull. It is more biocompatible. It is strong but very elastic and tough, more resistant to impact and better protection. Unlike titanium mesh surgery, skull repair surgery with polyetheretheretherketone is an embedded procedure and more comfortable. Moreover, compared with titanium mesh material polyetheretherketone material basically does not conduct heat and has strong insulation properties. It avoids the sensitivity to heat and cold caused by the skull repair surgery with titanium mesh. There is also no postoperative infection and no rejection. Rays can be transmitted without forming artifacts. A more important point is that polyetheretherketone is a material that can be plasticized in three dimensions and can be customized for three-dimensional reconstruction according to the different needs of the patient. It can be designed according to the patient’s brain CT data, and 3D printing technology is used to produce a cranial bone that matches perfectly with the bone window, and the cranial bone after repair is basically the same as the own cranial bone. It is the better material to repair the skull.