Automation will allow an increase in the scale of medical and dental item manufacturing, which will also lead to gains in quality and precision
Máquina que automatiza revestimento nanométrico de instrumentos cirúrgicos desenvolvida pela nChemi e CNPEM
Startup nChemi Materials Engineering, from São Carlos, in partnership with CNPEM (Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials), has developed a new machine that automates the production of nanometric coatings for surgical and dental instruments. The innovation allows technology to gain scale, expanding the supply of these items aimed at medical and dental use, in addition to having an impact on the quality, durability and efficiency of equipment such as drills and cutters, increasing hardness and reducing friction.
The equipment, developed at the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano/CNPEM), has great potential to transform the market by allowing companies throughout Brazil, and even abroad, to adopt the coating directly in their production lines, which speeds up the manufacturing process and reduces costs. Portugal is one of the countries that can become a commercial partner.
Currently, nChemi applies the coating manually and is capable of coating up to three thousand parts per day, focusing on the state of São Paulo. The new machine promises to expand this capacity, making it possible for the service to be adopted in the production line of medical and dental instrument factories in the future.
The partnership between nChemi and CNPEM, which began four years ago, was coordinated by researcher Flávio Leandro de Souza with the support of eight engineers and scientists. LNNano team was responsible for assembling and validating the machine, while CNPEM Innovation sector managed the patent process, currently in the analysis phase. The next stage of the project aims at quality control: a new automation that will evaluate the coating quality.
Impacts and expansion
Founded in 2015, nChemi is a deeptech focused on innovative solutions for surface engineering. Its nanometric zirconia-based coating not only increases the durability of the instruments, but also reduces temperature during surgical procedures, minimizing trauma to patients and speeding recovery. This is an advance that is already benefiting the medical-hospital and dental sectors, as well as industries such as aluminum, where the coating of metal parts can increase durability by up to 400%.
With the new technology, nChemi will be able to offer its solutions to regions far from where they are produced, in Brazil and also abroad. Companies that use nanometric coating will also be able to purchase the machine for use in their own facilities or integrate it into their production lines, adaptando-a às suas necessidades específicas.
Support for innovation
The collaboration between nChemi and CNPEM, in addition to being an exemplary case of partnership between science and industry, also highlights how nanotechnology can transform strategic sectors, such as the health one, benefiting companies and society.
About o CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM’s research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).
