Nano-Crystalline Ceramic Coatings for the Reduction of Sliding Resistance of Orth

描述(申请人提供)：这个小型企业创新研究项目旨在开发硬质陶瓷涂层，以减少正畸治疗过程中弓丝在托槽中的滑动阻力。过度的滑动阻力是摩擦和缺口/粘合行为的组合，当托槽沿着金属丝滑入新位置时，会对牙齿运动产生不利影响，导致结果难以预测，并需要增加作用力、治疗时间、坐在椅子上的时间和患者成本。如果成功，这种硬涂层将把滑动阻力与拱丝材料的其他特性(如硬度)分离，并为医生提供新的材料系统，以解决特定的患者问题。第二阶段将继续并扩大非常有希望的第一阶段成果，其中利用离子束辅助沉积(IBAD)应用了氧化铝、氧化锆和二氧化钛的薄涂层。在一家主要的正畸器械制造商进行的测试中，这种涂层明显降低了弓丝的滑动阻力。测试表明，滑动摩擦和缺口/粘合性能均显著降低；其中两种涂层材料显示出高耐刮擦性和抗剥离性。二期计划将通过优化IBAD参数来改善涂层性能，在更真实的配置下通过体外测试对涂层弓丝进行评估，并为临床研究最终选择涂层材料和沉积参数。涂层弓丝将在一所主要研究型大学进行的一项有限的临床研究中进行评估，以测试其在儿童牙齿矫直早、中期阶段的效果。陶瓷涂层正畸弓丝的商业化潜力非常大，我们的工业合作者参与实验室测试的第一阶段已经证明了这一点。第三阶段的商业化将是Spire Biomedical涂层和表面改性业务的直接扩张，该业务专门从事矫形假体、导管和其他医疗设备的表面处理。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Small Business Innovation Research project aims to develop hard ceramic coatings that will reduce the sliding resistance of archwires in their brackets during orthodontic treatment procedures. Excessive sliding resistance, which is a combination of friction and notching/binding behavior, works against tooth motion as the bracket slides along the wire into a new position, resulting in less predictable outcomes, and requiring increased force, treatment time, "chair time," and patient costs. If successful, the hard coatings will decouple sliding resistance from other properties of the arch-wire material, such as stiffness and provide the practitioner with new material systems for solving specific patient problems. Phase II will continue and expand highly promising Phase I results, in which thin coatings of alumina, zirconia, and titania were applied by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). The coatings decisively reduced sliding resistance of archwires in tests conducted by a major manufacturer of orthodontic appliances. The testing showed major reductions of both sliding friction and notching/binding behavior; and two of the coating materials demonstrated high resistance to scratching and delamination. The Phase II program will improve on coating properties through optimization of IBAD parameters, evaluate the coated archwires by in vitro testing in a more realistic configuration, and make a final selection of coating material and deposition parameters for a clinical study. Coated archwires will be evaluated in a limited clinica study at a major research university to test their efficacy in early and intermediate stages of tooth straightening in children. The commercialization potential of ceramic-coated orthodontic archwires is very high, as already demonstrated by the Phase I involvement by our industrial collaborators in laboratory testing. Phase III commercialization would be a straightforward expansion of Spire Biomedical's coating and surface- modification business, which specializes in surface treatments for orthopedic prostheses, catheters, and other medical devices.