After receiving accreditation as a foreign medical device manufacturer by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Oxford Performance Materials Inc. (OPM) has forged a partnership to establish manufacturing and marketing in Japan. 

Additive manufacturing has been hailed as aworld changing technology thata in time will be ubiquitous and alter theway we make things and live. Futurists, technologists and self-proclaimed evangelists have all claimed is a impending revolution.

As The Boeing Co. (Chicago, IL, US) and Airbus (Toulouse, France) debate how thermoplastics will play a part in near-term and future aircraft,

both are evaluating the price, processability and performance of two high-performance engineered polymers: PEEK (polyetheretherketone) and PEKK (polyetherketoneketone).

Which is better for the in-situ consolidation (ISC) of thermoplastic composite (TPC) tapes being developed for the production of primary aircraft structures, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) or polyetherketoneketone (PEKK)?

Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) business of Oxford Performance Materials (OPM). OPM A&D produces qualified, high-performance thermoplastic, carbon fiber reinforced 3D printed parts for Commercial Aerospace and Space and Defense applications. The acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close later this month.

A team of researchers from Northeastern University in Boston (MA) and the Wenzhou Medical University in China have taken inspiration from cicada wings to develop infection-resistant 3D printed orthopedic implants using PEKK plastic. 

Though an effective means of helping to heal broken bones, orthopaedic implants(as foreign matter) always run the risk of creating bacterial infections in the body. Antibiotics are the usual defence in such situations, but what if medical devices could resist bacterial build-up simply because of the way they are made?

Orthopedic implant infections have been steadily increasing while, at the same time, antibiotics developed to kill such bacteria have proven less and less effective with every passing day. It is clear that new approaches that do not rely on the use of antibiotics are needed to decrease medical device infections.

Back in 2013, Oxford Performance Materials’ biomedical division got FDA clearance for the first 3D polymeric implant for cranial reconstruction. A year later it won clearance for its 3D printed facial device.

Scott DeFelice, chief executive officer of Oxford Performance Materials, said the company is benefiting from the growth in defense spending. The South Windsor aerospace manufacturer is a supplier for other manufacturing firms.

The company is “really feeling an immediate impact” of rising defense spending, particularly from a recent $45 billion supplemental defense budget, he said. Work has focused on military satellites, classified work and retrofitting and updating military aircraft, DeFelice said.