The current trend of minimally invasive procedures demands new instruments, technologies and materials, particularly thinner and smaller surgical devices and implants. To allow medical device companies to develop more minimally invasive procedures, DSM has introduced a high purity Dyneema fiber based on extra high pure PE grade, targeted to provide increased life and 25% greater strength than the original product. The new material, Dyneema Purity® UG, was developed specifically to meet the need for strong, stable orthopedic implants that provide consistent performance over a longer term. It is available in 110, 220, and 440 dtex. The new product grade provides better creep resistance to support the development of implants that retain their performance for a longer period of time. Further, a 25% boost in material strength can help ensure performance of the implant even under more demanding conditions.
The Dyneema Purity® polyethylene fiber portfolio offers the same high specific strength as existing grades at significantly thinner diameters. This new product was developed specifically to help medical device manufacturers design smaller, lower-profile implants for minimally invasive surgical procedures without sacrificing strength and durability. Through materials innovation and ongoing collaboration with medical device companies, DSM is firmly focused on enabling medical device companies to develop new clinical approaches that improve patient outcomes, including shorter recuperation times and less scarring. The new product, Dyneema Purity® TG dtex 25 TS180 grade, offers a number of advantages over traditional materials. The new DSM product has an exceptional high tensile strength that enables manufacturers to develop lower-profile yet strong implants that support the trend towards and benefits of minimal invasive surgery. Dyneema Purity® TG also provides pliability, smoothness, a low coefficient of friction and fatigue and abrasion resistance. The product has been fully and successfully tested according to ISO standards for genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, sensitization/irritation, hemocompatibility, pyrogenicity and mutagenicity.
DSM Dyneema has also recently introduced newer products of particular benefit to the military:
Dyneema® HB80, a unidirectional (UD) composite that meets the joint US Army and Marine challenge to increase the fragmentation performance by at least 35% of advanced combat helmets. According to the makers, HB80 also has the potential to provide law enforcement SWAT units with helmets offering existing protection at half the current weight. It is the latest product in an expanding series of materials being developed by DSM Dyneema to substantially lighten the load for soldiers and law enforcement. HB80 is the highest ballistic performance UD material on the market which is available for shipment to armor manufacturers, and it meets the requirements for Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH), a joint program of the US Army and Marines. In testing, helmets have demonstrated a minimum of 35% increase in fragmentation performance when compared to the helmets currently used by the US armed forces.
The newly introduced Dyneema BT10, is its first commercially available product made from a novel, proprietary ballistic tape (BT) technology. Selected Dyneema BT10 for armor upgrading on the Patria XA-188 APC commissioned by the Dutch DMO (Defensie Materieel Organisatie). The vehicles will be used by the Dutch military forces stationed in Afghanistan and delivery is expected to be completed by October 2009. Dyneema® BT10 performed extremely well as a backing material behind the strike face armor and helped deliver a cost effective, light weight ballistic protection solution with excellent overall performance. It has been tested and certified according to NATO standards STANAG 4569 and AEP55. BT10 provides vehicles with optimum protection without sacrificing crucial mobility. It will allow designers and manufacturers to balance the requirements for better performing vehicles, increased payloads, and room for future weight growth at a competitive cost level and is part of a growing range of light-weight and ultra-high armor protection material solutions. BT10 is the first in a new ballistic tape technology platform that offers the ballistic performance of Dyneema at a price which makes it highly competitive with aramids in many armor systems, at a weight level which outperforms aramids and approaches Dyneema HB (Hard Ballistic) products. These include UD (unidirectional) composite products such as Dyneema® HB26 that sets the standard in light weight, stand alone protection. In-house tests have shown that Dyneema BT10 is lighter and stronger than the next best aramid based armor solution and offers many of the performance attributes of Dyneema HB26 at a slightly higher weight. Dyneema BT10 proves to be a very cost effective material for the most severe and unconventional threats emerging today. Furthermore, it is ideally suited as backing behind a strike face and as spall liner in overmatch situations. BT10, extends our range of vehicle protection materials, giving more choice and flexibility to customers to find the protection solution with the right balance of performance, weight and cost for their needs.
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