Parx Plastics has announced that the Italian Ministry of Economic Development has issued the patent certificate for the industrial invention covering the company’s technologies to create antimicrobial and antibiofilm functionality on the surface of Vitamin E-blended Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) for orthopaedic prosthetic devices.
The patent will provide Parx’s biocompatible technologies with protection specifically in the orthopaedic field, further strengthening the company’s patent portfolio.
UHMWPE components are used in total endoprosthetic joints, for example in endoprothesis of the hip, knee, shoulder, ankle, elbow, and vertebral column.
Professor Luigi Costa, from the Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences at the University of Torino, said: “The Parx Plastics technology, improving the resistance to adhesion of bacterial biofilms to the surface of orthopaedic prostheses parts made from UHWMPE with Vitamin E, represents a further step forward in better controlling the risks of infection.”