New grade offers implantable medical device manufacturers greater strength and wear resistance. Thorton Clevelys, UK (PRWeb) February 12, 2007 -- Invibio®, a leading provider of biomaterial solutions to the medical device market, has introduced a carbon fiber-reinforced grade of its highly successful PEEK-OPTIMA® polymer.

Carbon fiber-reinforced (CFR) PEEK-OPTIMA compound is composed of short carbon fibers dispersed in a PEEK-OPTIMA polymer matrix. The resulting material has enhanced mechanical and physical properties for more demanding, load bearing applications requiring blood, bone or tissue contact of more than 30 days. The compound offers all of the benefits of unfilled PEEK-OPTIMA polymer with the added advantages of tailored mechanical strength and creep performance.

Additionally, it is a true structural polymer that offers improved wear performance over UHMWPE in articulating joints against polymer, metal and ceramic counterfaces. CFR PEEK-OPTIMA demonstrates significantly lower wear than that observed for UHMWPE/CoCrMo wear couples under identical conditions.

CFR PEEK-OPTIMA also provides an exceptional matrix-to-fiber interfacial bond strength which is at least an order of magnitude stronger than that between carbon fibers and UHMWPE.

Especially important for orthopaedic applications, the flexural stiffness of CFR PEEK-OPTIMA is more similar to human bone than other biomaterials, thus implants developed from CFR PEEK-OPTIMA allow for better load sharing, reducing the impact of stress shielding.

CFR PEEK-OPTIMA compound also offers proven biocompatibility to ensure safe, long-term implantation and has FDA Drug and Device Master Files.

"This new grade of PEEK-OPTIMA polymer is another example of Invibio's dedication to meeting the demanding biomaterial needs of medical device manufacturers," said Michael Callahan, president of Invibio. "Invibio will continue to develop innovative biomaterial solutions to further enable device manufacturers to develop revolutionary devices."

In addition to PEEK-OPTIMA polymer and CFR PEEK-OPTIMA compound, Invibio also manufacturers ENDOLIGN™ composite and PEEK-CLASSIX™ polymer. ENDOLIGN is a PEEK-OPTIMA-based continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composite for structural uses and metal replacement in sustained or cyclic load applications requiring blood, bone or tissue contact of greater than 30 days.

PEEK-CLASSIX polymer is a thermoplastic designed and manufactured for non-implantable medical device applications requiring blood or tissue contact of less than 30 days.

About Invibio
Invibio® is a global leader providing high performance biomaterials, advanced technical research and consultative solutions to medical device manufacturers across a wide range of markets. The company provides medical device manufacturers with implantable-grade PEEK-OPTIMA® and ENDOLIGN™ polymers and medical-grade PEEK-CLASSIX™ polymer for the development of long- and short-term implantable medical devices.

For more information, please contact Invibio at: 866 468 4246 or +484 342 6004(U.S.), +44 (0) 1253 898000 (U.K.), +852 2366 4448 (Asia Pacific) or online at www.invibio.com.

For more Invibio information, press only:
Tracy Conger, HSR Business to Business, (513) 346-5557, tconger[athsr.com.

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