From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— In the latest episode of “WisBusiness: the Show,” Sea Change Silicides founder Steven Girard discusses the path ahead for the biomedical technology business.
The Whitewater-based company won the “Bright New Idea” award at this year’s Governor’s Business Plan Contest with its technology to improve titanium implants often used in surgical and dental procedures. Its coating material is meant to address issues with these widely used products.
Titanium implants are used in about 60% of orthopedic implants and 90% of all dental implants, representing a $20 billion market per year. That’s according to Girard, who’s an associate professor of chemistry at UW-Whitewater.
“When you look at the issues around titanium implants, about 5% to 10% of all of these implants will have complications, or maybe will just fail,” he said. “The way they fail primarily comes from two sources, either bacterial infections or from implant loosening.”
The patented coating that Sea Change Silicides has created uses “bioactive glass,” a material made up partly of silica glass, Girard explained. It’s designed to be biodegradable within the body, serving to inhibit bacterial growth while also stimulating the growth of new bone tissue.
“We think that our coating could be revolutionary broadly within titanium implants, and reduce the failure rates that are associated with those problems,” he said, adding “we think our coatings out-compete everything else currently on the market. We also have a fairly low cost.”
The episode also previews upcoming events hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council, which produces the show.
Watch the show here and find more episodes here.
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