Amedica, a biomaterials company, has announced collaboration with Kyocera Industrial Ceramics, a ceramics producer, to manufacture medical devices from Amedica's silicon nitride biomaterial at Kyocera's Vancouver, Washington facility.
This collaboration includes the manufacture of Amedica's US Food and Drug Administration approved silicon nitride spinal interbody devices and will broaden the company's ability to meet market demand.
As a biomaterial, silicon nitride has been shown to help promote bone growth and has anti-infective properties.
Devices made from Silicon Nitride are semi-radiolucent with clearly visible boundaries enabling an exact view of intraoperative placement and postoperative fusion assessment via common imaging modalities.
Amedica president and CEO Eric Olson noted there is an unmet need for advanced biomaterials in orthopedics and spine.
"We are seeing an increasing interest for our Silicon Nitride interbody devices and increased interest in this material for use in other applications and want to ensure a consistent supply for surgeons and more importantly, patients.
"As the world's number one producer of advanced ceramics with vast experience in ensuring market demand is consistently fulfilled for innovative products, Kyocera is the ideal partner to help broaden availability of our novel biomaterial devices," Olson added.
Amedica believes that these are essential characteristics that surgeons seek when choosing the ideal spinal interbody implant for their patients. Amedica has sold over 14,000 of these devices worldwide.
