N2 Biomedical Awarded Two Patents

N2 Biomedical, a provider of coatings and surface treatment solutions to the medical device industry, was recently awarded two patents by the United States Patents Office—one for their proprietary Dual Action NanoCoating, and one for their Mesoporous Surface for Enhanced Bone Integration process.
 
Prosthetic joint infections are one of the most feared complications following total joint replacement surgery, says N2 Biomedical. Beyond the physical pain, these infections present in as many as 300,000 patients in the U.S. annually, requiring 1 million additional inpatient days, and costing $1.6 billion in additional heath care expenses.¹
 
Dual Action Nano-Coating Process
N2 Biomedical’s U.S. Patent No. 10,675,380 for its Dual Action Nano-Coating process, awarded in April, addresses these critical complications by offering infection prevention and promoting osseointegration for medical and dental implants.
 
The patented process deposits biocompatible and antibacterial properties into a single film less than 10 microns thick. The nano-engineered surface reduces bacterial colonization and biofilm formation, allowing osteoblasts to win the race to the surface. Biocompatible materials and engineered surface morphologies combine to provide optimum conditions for osseointegration.
 
“I am proud of our senior scientist Jason Burns and the entire N2 engineering team for continuing to advance the surface science needed to address these important healthcare challenges,” president and CEO of N2 Biomedical Randall Sword said. “The work and lab results to-date are promising, and we look forward to bringing this important technology to the market quickly.”
 
Mesoporous Surface for Enhanced Bone Integration
In March, technical director Nader Kalhoran and the engineers of N2 Biomedical were awarded U.S. Patent No. 10,588,999, describing their process for creating Mesoporous Surface for Enhanced Bone Integration. The proprietary coating enhances bone integration by engineering multiple levels of texture on a medical device surface, including the macro, micro, and meso or sub-nanoscale levels.
 
“This low-temperature process can be applied to a wide variety of metal, ceramic, and polymer implants,” Sword said. “It is particularly well-suited to Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) spinal interbodies, interference screws and suture anchors. The mesoporus surface structure improves the ossointegration of PEEK implants yet maintains all material property advantages of PEEK over titanium implants which include mechanical similarity to bone, radio translucency and ease of surgical revisions.”

Reference:
¹ Adeyemi, A., Trueman, P. Economic burden of surgical site infections within the episode of care following joint replacement. J Orthop Surg Res 14, 196 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13018-019-1224-8