![Due to Evonik’s high-performance polymer VESTAKEEP® implants can be printed in just a few hours.](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162155-desktop.jpg?rev=5b3d8b474d13b342106209d452b5f10c)
Printed Implants
For patients and doctors, 3D-printed implants using Evonik’s high-performance polymer VESTAKEEP® are revolutionary compared with metal: The material is biocompatible and 3D-printing allows customization so that, for example, a plate can be made to fit precisely to the patient’s skull.
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162383-desktop.jpg?rev=42bafe8fb0b88b3c1416e5fc49f7122f)
Are you going to have an operation? That’s never pleasant, especially not if it’s on a very sensitive part of the body such as the skull.
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162381-desktop.jpg?rev=265b83028542d27d53d8ad78233a9bf2)
Until now, surgeons have only been able to insert standard implants. They didn’t fit perfectly and were mostly made of metal.
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162379-desktop.jpg?rev=3e2cc92f1cd3f0f5c02bbfd95ec1c504)
Until now, surgeons have only been able to insert standard implants. They didn’t fit perfectly and were mostly made of metal.
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162378-desktop.jpg?rev=3ec1a00fdb0e6121eacb95db7dd7e3b4)
Its advantage over metal is that it is more readily accepted by the human body. Moreover, the material is almost as elastic as bone.
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162384-desktop.jpg?rev=6e97293586e8519a779215facccf978b)
The 3D-printing startup Meditool, in which Evonik owns a stake, supplies hardware and software that can read images directly from MRT and CT scanners.
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162380-desktop.jpg?rev=4e7b00b1abc1e4b6688f3800f669b80a)
As a result, implants made of VESTAKEEP® can be individually printed for every patient—in just a few hours!
![](https://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/162382-desktop.jpg?rev=5c61e6aec9d15b12c54a5579f2ef7041)
What’s more, such implants reduce the likelihood that another operation will be needed to adjust the implant.