Med-Tech Innovation Materials analysis
Powders in MANUFACTURING
Ceramic coated metal implants, sintered zirconia-toughened alumina as femoral head and acetabular cup components and bone cements all feature powder processing as part of production. Phil Jackson of Ceram highlights the important role of powders in device manufacture.
Q1: How are powders being used to enable innovation in medical devices?
Optimisation of powders, in terms of particle size, particle shape, porosity and surface area, has a huge role to play in medical device and pharmaceutical innovation. For example, in the area of drug delivery there has been much interest in porous inorganic species for controlled drug release. Advantages with this technology over soluble polymers include, amongst other things, the avoidance of burst effects and toxic by-products from matrix breakdown. Work at Ceram has shown that sol- gel processing offers excellent control of sol-gel powder porosity and therefore drug release versus time. Additive manufacture, that is, the ability to generate structures layer by layer from a powder or slurry bed,
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offers effi cient production of bespoke components that are near net shape, avoid waste material and reduce reliance on technician skills. Of particular interest at the moment is additive manufacture of inorganic ceramics or glass for bone or dental structures. Nano-powders will play an important role in creating
improved products. Retention of nano-grain size in sintered ceramic products has the potential to deliver enhanced mechanical properties in implants, and incorporation of nano-powder fi llers in polymer solution could introduce step-change properties in electrospun fi bres used in wound dressings.
Q2: How can failure to optimise the powder suspension affect my end product, and how can
September/October 2013 ¦ 33
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