Amorphous Alloys for Next-Gen Biomedical Applications

12^th- 13^th September 2023 in Luzern, Switzerland

The Swiss Medtech Expo combines trade fair and symposium and offers decision-makers from manufacturing companies, leading system and component suppliers, specialised service providers as well as research and educational institutions a platform for dialogue. The trade fair covers the entire value chain and presents the latest developments in designs, materials, technologies and processes in medical technology in an application-oriented context.

Amorphous Metals in the Medicaltechnology

Preferred materials for personalized implants, orthopedic and medical devices face a multitude of high demands at the same time. In addition to biocompatibility standards, manufacturability and surface functionality, especially the adaptation of complex individual geometries are current challenges that highlight the bottleneck between a material solution approach and the specific application. The promising approach of using amorphous metals in this context has already proven to be viable in practical studies and implementations. The properties of the metallic glasses, as they are also called, are the focus in order to design applications for previously unsolved challenges.  Click here for more information about amorphous metals in the medical industry

The structural and mechanical properties, especially the elasticity with a Young's modulus close to that of a human bone, combined with the high strength of the amorphous metallic materials bring advantages in the use of compression plates or spinal implants. Certifications according to ISO 10993-5 and ISO 10993-12 are already available for Heraeus AMLOY alloys and show an excellent classification of their biocompatibility. Likewise, this product range can already be used in near net shape technologies, i.e. 3D printing as well as injection molding, so that the individualized components of medical applications can be manufactured with high quality according to the state of the art. Due to their unique atomic structure and the absence of grain and phase boundaries, as well as a resulting high corrosion resistance and MRI-compatibility, amorphous metals enable their beneficial use in many other medical applications including dental and prosthetics. Advantageous approaches can also be shown for yet unsolved implementations such as bone implants in the costal arch region.