The medical and dental fields demand strict adherence to manufacturer’s specifications in order to ensure the reliability of finished products. Delivering thermal processing at the highest global standards, Bodycote is uniquely suited to handle this important work.
Our offerings
Bodycote is able to support a variety of medical, dental and pharmaceutical applications, our services are designed to improve and ensure the reliability of finished products.
Our success in this arena is due to the breadth of processes available within Bodycote and extensive technical resources on hand, permitting development of innovative, cost effective solutions for our customers.
The stress on a hip or knee joint when a person jumps off a chair is equal to around 100 tonnes per square inch. Our bones, effectively composites, absorb such stresses regularly and effectively for much of our lifetime. When joints fail, they are often replaced with metal alloy implants. These implants must be incredibly strong, biocompatible, and able to last the lifetime of the patient. A combination of heat treatment, hot isostatic pressing and coating makes this possible. Many medical implants are made from cast cobalt chromium which require biomedical coating to promote bonding between the implant and body tissue, then Hot Isostatic Pressing to remove eliminate porosity, improve fatigue life and enhance the bonding of the coating. Solution and ageing heat treatment is also used to strengthen the implant.
It goes without saying that the quality and reliability of surgical tools is of prime importance. A defective tool during a medical procedure could have dire consequences.
Many surgical tools require vacuum hardening in order to strengthen the tools whilst maintaining the fine surface finish. In addition, vacuum brazing is used to attach carbide cutting medium to surgical saws and other implements.
The advantages of stainless steel make it a material of choice for surgical tools and implants. Yet, design teams often struggle with issues of galling, insufficient surface hardness, and wear resistance. Bodycote’s proprietary S³P processes provide surface hardening that increases key mechanical properties of stainless steel without sacrificing its corrosion resistance, ductility, and capacity for cleaning and sterilisation.
Like any other medical tool or device, dental tools and appliances are manufactured to strict guidelines to ensure correct operation. The materials and processes utilized require specialized thermal processing solutions.
Bodycote provides various vacuum based treatments for use in dental and orthodontic component manufacture. To maintain the required surface finish, vacuum hardening or vacuum ageing is used to produce the required material properties. For attaching carbide inserts vacuum brazing is utilized. Many dental items are also treated by ferritic nitrocarburising ensuring a hardwearing surface and the ability to withstand numerous sterilization cycles.
Our quality meets your standards.
Our quality meets your standards, Bodycote has developed specialised treatments to provide corrosion protection and improve component wear resistance. We maintain the highest production standards for quality, safety and efficiency, holding an extensive list of accreditations from key global customers, platforms, and standard agencies across all market sectors.
Some of our national and international accreditations are listed below. Please use the contact us tool to find out exact accreditations to satisfy your specific application.
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Brochure – Medical market
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Brochure – Medical implants component journey
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Brochure – S³P Specialty Stainless Steel Processes Overview
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Brochure – Hot Isostatic Pressing: simple equations for better materials
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Brochure – S³P processes for medical grade material
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We have a library of literature available for specific industries and medical applications.
Please click here to view all of our brochures
Bodycote – here to support your applications
Operating an international network of facilities and serving a wide range of industries, Bodycote is the world's largest and most respected provider of thermal processing services - a vital link in the manufacturing supply chain.
To learn more or request a quote, reach out to us: customer.response@bodycote.com or submit your request below for more information.
