Looking at materials from an application perspective helps us see how one material can be used across multiple industries.
Here are a few materials designed for the medical industry that can also be applied in other ways:
Soft-touch Surfaces
By: Lightmotif B. V.
Micro-textures that are applied to plastic surfaces and can reduce skin friction by limiting the skin contact area– leading to a very soft surface feeling. This soft-touch effect can be used to enhance the quality and perception of consumer products, or it could be applied to medical products to reduce skin friction and irritation. The company has developed a 3D mold texturing technology relying on ultrashort pulse ablation. The textured surface is then copied to the injection molded product, leading to a one-step fabrication process for plastic surfaces with novel soft-touch properties. Applications include consumer electronics casings, automotive interior surfaces, and medical products.
Compo-SiL® Anti-slip and Functional Deco-Strip
By: General Silicones Co., Ltd.
Silicone composite strips that provide durability, slip resistance, and effective muscle recovery for athletes. The patented surface modifying technique chemically bonds a PU-based modified layer with silicone. The excellent resilience of silicone can stabilize the tendon and relieve the pain of the protected part while providing cushioning. The stable silicone surface won’t degrade, crack, or become sticky after frequent washing. Applications are for athletic wear, tights, compression suits, and medical protective gear
Lignin Aerogels
By: LignoPure GbR
A porous ultralight material derived from a gel and lignin. The lightest aerogels are composed of 99.98% air and are only twice as dense as air. As the second most common biopolymer in the world, lignin is derived from plants that humans do not eat to replace crude oil in a wide variety of areas. Due to their many excellent properties, aerogels attract much interest in various applications, ranging from construction to medicine. In medicine, they can be used as diagnostic agents, artificial tissues, organs, and organ components etc., and in particular in drug delivery systems.
Calcium phosphate synthetic and rice starch composite bone substitute
By: Punyanitya Medical Devices Co, Ltd
Hydroxyapatite (a ceramic similar in chemistry to bone) derived from cockle shells is combined with rice starch derived from organic material, and pure carbohydrate, then mixed to create a composite bone substitute. The composite can be customized by pore size and needs to be no less than 150 microns to be a suitable bone substitute. Applications are for bone repair in the medical industry.
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