Healthcare
New technologies are continually driving developments in healthcare. Our advanced materials are playing a key role both within the innovative medical devices market and as components in diagnostic equipment such as CAT, MRI and ultrasound scanners.
Examples of recent applications include:
Diagnostic imaging
We have developed piezoelectric materials which produce a voltage proportional to applied mechanical pressure and change shape if a voltage is applied. Using these properties we have dramatically improved the performance of ultrasound transducers used in both medical imaging and as catheter, blood pressure and vascular flow sensors, providing more precise and predictable results and longer instrument life.
Speech restoration
Our ceramics are offering new hope to patients whose voice boxes have been removed due to throat cancer. The silicon valves used to connect windpipe and throat have to be changed every three months due to biofilm growth, a costly and sometimes distressing procedure. Working with medical experts, we have developed a new ceramic zirconia valve which resists biofilm growth and could last at least two years, saving money and significantly improving patient quality of life.
Implantable pulse generators
Implanted electronic devices which send signals to stimulate or block nerve impulses offer opportunities to treat medical conditions ranging from back pain to obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Morgan Crucible has developed a tiny ceramic-to-metal assembly to carry the electrical signal from a pulse generator to the wires to stimulate or block the nerve. These are already used in pacemakers, cochlear implants and defibrillators, and we are now developing an implantable Zirconia housing to treat migraine and cluster headaches.
Ceramic implants
Ceramic’s biocompatibility, repeatability and reliability make it an ideal material for medical devices. Using our world-leading injection-moulding capabilities and advanced materials technology we produce a wide range of medical implants, including Zirconia dental abutments and copings and ceramic orthopaedic joint replacements.
