Description:
Project ID: D2013-63
Invention Description and Novelty: Unique biodegradable alloys suitable for biomedical implant applications provide increased strength and ductility.
Value proposition:
· Biodegradable alloys with improved processability;
· Significantly stronger than biodegradable calcium phosphate ceramics or biopolymers;
· Metallurgical techniques used to create these alloys improve corrosion resistance, slows down degradation rate and enhances initial strength.
· Unlike cast alloys which generally have lessened compositional and microstructural homogeneity, coarse microstructure, and decreased ability to incorporate additional amounts of rare earths elements, these alloys are produced in nanocrystalline grain size and contain no intermetallic phases;
Applications: Particularly useful for biomedical implants in orthopedic, dental, cardiovascular, and veterinary applications or for use as contrast in imaging techniques such as MRI. They can be machined or fabricated into a wide variety of articles in which biodegradability and increased strength is desired.
IP Status: Provisional Patent Application No. 61/988,512