The New Economy Magazine awarded Oxford Performance Materials among the best three-dimensional healthcare innovations.
The company developed an additive manufacturing technique with ultra-high performance PEKK to print patient-specific functional and biocompatible prosthetic implants. This technology has become disruptive in the healthcare industry since receiving FDA clearance in 2013 for the OsteoFAB Patient-Specific Cranial Device.
Oxford Performance Materials is the only company with FDA clearance to manufacture 3D polymeric orthopedic implants. The implants are designed to reduce the overall cost of care for the customer by decreasing operating room time, length of stay at the hospital and complications.
"What is exciting about our technology is that additional complexity does not necessarily increase manufacturing cost," said OPM Biomedical President Severine Zygmont. "As a result, we believe that additive manufacturing has the potential to not only improve patient outcomes, but fundamentally provide improved healthcare in orthopedics on a global scale — for developed countries and developing countries. These are disruptive changes that will allow the industry to provide healthcare at a lower cost."
The company, based in South Windsor, Conn., reported hospitals are adopting OsteoFAB implant lines over metals and other polymer options as a low-cost solution.
"For the surgeon, OPM products are easier to implant, modify and observe, and studies have show that our OXPEKK formulation is osteoconductive — meaning bone grows onto the surface of our implants — and this leads to better fixation to the patient's own bone," said OPM CEO Scott DeFelice.