Image courtesy of OPM
January 15, 2015 — Oxford Performance Materials Inc. (OPM) announced the commencement of an extensive joint research program with Yale University to develop innovative and cost-effective 3-D printed biomedical technologies and applications. This initiative will add renowned clinical expertise to OPM's comprehensive platform for device development, made up of OPM's proprietary OxPEKK formulation of the high performance polymer poly-ether-ketone-ketone (PEKK).
The Yale-OPM joint research program will consist of ten distinct projects, featuring seven Yale faculty members, exploring a range of biomedical applications for 3-D printing and PEKK. Projects include the development of new PEKK-based cranial and facial devices that support direct tissue attachment, 3-D printed PEKK prosthesis for rib replacement, 3-D printed PEKK devices that deliver therapeutics for improved vertebral fusion as well as devices that deliver antibiotics to combat the pressing burden of implant associated infections.
In 2013, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development supported the expansion of OPM's South Windsor, Connecticut manufacturing facility with a $3.2 million loan for new machinery and equipment, as well as building upgrades.
"3-D printing enables the facile fabrication of complex geometries. In combination, these technologies present new and previously unavailable opportunities to develop and deliver customized, patient-specific therapies that are also economically viable," said Mark Saltzman, Ph.D., Yale's Goizueta Foundation professor of chemical and bomedical engineering and chair of biomedical engineering.
For more information: www.oxfordpm.com