Medical Applications

Advanced materials play an increasingly important role in medical devices for implants, surgical tools, sensors, and healthcare products for example:

• Orthopaedic implants where metals, ceramics and polymers are used to provide wear resistant joint replacements
• Bone cements and repair materials which mimic the chemistry and structure of natural bone
• Vascular stents with drug elutriating surfaces for minimally invasive surgical procedures
• High strength, radio-opaque surgical instruments
• Dental cements and glasses with anti-bacterial properties

Materials for medical applications can be classified as either bioinert or bioactive. In reality no materials are totally bioinert however several metal and ceramic materials elicit a minimal response from the body and they find use in applications such as orthopaedic implants – hip and knee prostheses, finger joints etc. Examples of joint replacements in which we have experience and expertise include alumina, zirconia and mechanically alloyed ceramic reinforced metals.

Bioactive materials are designed to react with the body – either changing into a stable form, or disappearing completely once they have done their job. Hydroxyapatite based bone cement is an example of a bioactive material which both helps to fix a fracture and prompts the body to grow new bone.

Long term application of implants such as vascular stents and dental implants benefit from the use of materials, which are able to deliver drugs to minimise the immune response; and antibacterial agents to reduce infection. We have worked on slow release glasses and the examination of drug eluting surface coatings.

The rise in the incidence of resistant bacteria and the risk of prion disease has emphasised the importance of sterilisation for implants and multi-use surgical instruments. Ceramic components are not affected by high temperature heat treatment regimes which may be required to ensure destruction of prion proteins. Surface analysis such as that offered by our subsidiary CSMA has also been used to evaluate and assess the cleanliness of surfaces of medical devices, and to determine the effectiveness of novel sterilisation processes such as cold plasma.

Our expertise in metals and ceramics coupled with the availability of sophisticated surface analysis techniques make us uniquely placed to assist our customers in development of biomaterials and material based medical devices.

Related Resources:

• Centre for Surface and Materials Analysis
• Computational Modelling
• Direct Writing
• Hot Isostatic Processing