Innovative ceramic components for improving patient quality of life.
Medical procedures considered impossible a generation ago are now extending lifetimes.
Engineered ceramics, such as those supplied by Ceradyne, Inc., allow researchers
and engineers to challenge the limits of what is considered possible. Demands for
strength, toughness, higher heat resistance, and improved wear properties have made
today's ceramics the materials of choice. From dental to diagnostics, ceramics have
been part of the breakthrough process. Ceradyne ceramics are used to withstand the
extreme heat generated by a CT scan, to provide toughness in dental components,
and to allow the precision required in diagnostic and surgical instruments.
Diagnostic and Surgical
Innovative ceramic injection molding (CIM) capabilities, combined with the unique
material properties of ceramics, provide enabling technology for a number of medical
applications.
Dental
Ceradyne co-invented ceramic dental brackets in 1986 using Transtar®, a translucent
polycrystalline aluminum oxide (TPA). Another Ceradyne dental innovation is the
zirconium oxide implant.
Ceramic Injection
Molding
Ceramic injection molding (CIM) technology is used to fabricate small, intricately
shaped components to high dimensional accuracy without the need for secondary operations.
The unique benefits of Ceradyne Ceralloy® advanced ceramic components set specification
standards that cannot be met by similar products made from metals or plastics. Ceralloy®
ceramics offer the medical industry the following key benefits:
- Biocompatibility
- Electrical Insulation
- Temperature Resistance
- Dimensional Stability
- Flexural Strength
- Wear Resistance
Proprietary state-of-the-art ceramic processing techniques are used at Ceradyne
to produce medical components to exacting tolerances under ISO 9001:2000 quality
standards. Processing techniques include pressing, ceramic injection molding, hot
isostatic pressing (HIPing) and precision diamond grinding.