Implanting more comfort, strength and reliability
As more people choose to be active longer in their lifetime, the health benefits are clear, but there are side effects. The damage to various joints from sustained, intense physical activity has lead to a dramatic rise in orthopedic procedures.

The achievements in total joint replacements, especially hip and knee arthroplasty, are spectacular. Medical innovation to repair and restore long-term function to torn rotator cuffs and ripped anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL’s) is practiced on a routine basis. More recently, there have been substantial developments in the treatment of the spinal area.

Implant solutions
In all these cases, implantable devices are used to replace or repair damaged tissues and restore functionality. Depending on the application, the implants will use materials with different properties:

Ultra-strong fibers are needed for solid fixation when suturing soft tissues to bone. Product example: Dyneema Purity®.

Wear-resistant materials are used to create durable stable surfaces in arthroplasty. Product example: UHMWPE. including our new Easy-XL™ easy crosslinkable platform.

Elastomeric and/or rigid materials provide shock absorption and serve a variety of applications involving flexible implant design. Product examples from DSM PTG (formerly The Polymer Technology Group) include Bionate® PCU, Bionate® II PCU, BioSpan® SPU, CarboSil® TSPCU, Elasthane™ TPU, PurSil® TSPU.

Rigid polymers form stable solid implant structures such as spinal cages. Product examples: several materials currently under development.