Our Project

Clinical Need

Potential biomedical materials must clear a high threshold of acceptability in order to gain widespread utilization in implants. Biocompatibility, high corrosion resistance, and superior mechanical properties are essential for candidate materials in order to ensure the health and safety of the patient and the durability and performance of the implant. Ideal materials will not only meet these requirements but allow for good imaging with low artifacts. Currently, industry standard materials for implants include stainless steel, titanium, cobalt chrome, nitinol, tantalum, polyetheretherketone (PEEK). However, many more novel materials could find utilization in this space if biomedical materials testing were streamlined, economical, and able to be performed in-house.

The Applications

Applications

We believe getting novel materials to market and matched to the perfect applications should be easier. To prove the ease and utility that in-house testing can provide biomedical companies, Bone Metal Group is currently in the process of testing the viability of an amorphous metal for spinal implants using our materials tester. Our tester will be used to simulate the wear experienced by a potential implant within an environment that mimics the body. Similarly, it can be adjusted to simplify the research and development process for a wide range of materials and applications.

The Tester

The Materials Tester

Our low-cost materials testing device performs standard wear tests in open air as well as in solution, yielding data relevant to your application. Its pneumatic actuator relies on a high-precision regulator and a triaxial gantry system to tightly control the force application to within 2.5%. The modular design allows for a wide variety of test probes and accommodates irregular sample shapes and sizes to reduce prep time. The sample stage contains an integrated heating element to test wear properties up to 150 °C.