When patients suffering from accidental fractures or degenerative joint disease suffer from joint pain or loss of mobility, if conservative treatment cannot effectively relieve pain and restore daily joint function, artificial joint replacement has become an immediate treatment option. From the perspective of application, artificial joints mainly include hip joints, knee joints, shoulder joints, elbow joints, radial small heads, and single sacroiliac joints. The materials used in artificial joints are: metal alloys, polymer polyethylene, and special ceramics. The following is a brief analysis of the artificial joint market and related materials, especially the silicon nitride bioceramic material with great potential.
Figure 1 Common parts of degenerative joint disease
2.5 billion US dollars market, population aging and obesity dominate
According to a survey report from the research website "RESEARCH AND MARKETS", "The global artificial joint market was valued at USD 1.713 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 2.531 billion by 2025 and USD 2.5 billion by 2025. From 2015 According to the market application data of the year, knee artificial joints have the largest market share. Due to the aging of the globalized population, the incidence of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis has greatly promoted the global artificial joint market Growth, and the rapid increase in the number of obese people worldwide will also increase the demand for knee and hip replacement surgery, further driving the global artificial joint market size. "
Figure 2 Screenshot of the artificial joint market research report web page
From the perspective of the domestic artificial joint market, China's population base is large and the aging population is growing rapidly. With the increase of per capita disposable wealth and the development of medical care, the application of artificial joints has been increasing year by year. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, "In 2017, the elderly population in China further increased, and the proportion of the population aged 65 and over soared to 11.4%, reaching 15.831 million." According to public information, about one-half of the elderly suffer from joint diseases of different degrees. Assuming that 3% of them need surgery, the number of people who need surgery is 2.3 million. Assuming artificial joint materials At a cost of 50,000 yuan, the market capacity of artificial joint materials is close to 100 billion yuan. The actual ratio of surgery to the need for surgery is about 1 to 10. It is estimated that there are about 230,000 cases of surgery, so the actual market demand for artificial joint materials in China is about 10 billion yuan. With the advancement of the medical industry and the upgrade of material preparation technology, the success rate of joint replacement surgery and the stability of prostheses have increased. It is believed that the proportion of patients who choose joint replacement surgery will steadily increase, and it is believed that it will stimulate market demand in the next few years.
Figure 3 The aging population will vigorously promote the artificial joint market
Artificial joint materials and rising star "silicon nitride biomaterial"
At present, the materials used in artificial joints are mainly metal alloys, high-molecular polyethylene, and ceramics. Taking the most common materials for artificial total hip joints as an example, the current artificial total hip prosthesis materials are mainly The following three categories: 1. Metal ball head + polyethylene inner pad; 2. Ceramic ball head + polyethylene inner liner; 3. Ceramic ball head + ceramic inner liner. PS: Metal The metal friction interface will generate a large number of metal wear particles, causing the body to be uncomfortable and has been discontinued. Because of the different materials, the mechanical wear life of the three types of prostheses is different. Among them, the metal-polyethylene prosthesis is the cheapest but the least wear-resistant; the ceramic-highly cross-linked polyethylene interface is cheaper than the ceramic-ceramic interface joint. But the joint wear resistance is worse than ceramic-ceramic interface; ceramic-ceramic has the highest cost, but excellent wear resistance and long service life, especially for young patients, it is more suitable to choose ceramic-ceramic interface joints.
Figure 4 Comparison of metal materials, polymers and ceramic artificial joint materials
The types of ceramics used for ceramic joints are: alumina ceramics (commonly known as yellow pottery), zirconia ceramics (commonly known as white pottery) and zirconia toughened alumina ceramics (commonly known as powder pottery). The main problem of yellow pottery is its low toughness, which makes it easy to break. White ceramics have better toughness than yellow ceramics, but the aging of its zirconia properties will cause micro-cracks or macro-cracks, which will significantly reduce the mechanical properties of the material. This is a major drawback. Powder pottery is an upgraded product of yellow pottery. Although the toughness and stability of zirconia-toughened alumina ceramics (ZTA) have been greatly improved compared with the former two, it still cannot escape the aging of materials under the complex physiological conditions of the human body. phenomenon.
As a new generation of bioceramic materials, compared with the currently widely used oxide ceramics, silicon nitride materials have not only the excellent quality of ceramic materials, but also have good anti-infective ability, developing ability and better bone length. In addition to the ability of bone growth, silicon nitride is a chemically stable material. The absence of the aging problem of zirconia ceramics can make the prosthesis material more stable in complex organisms. Taking all factors into consideration, the silicon nitride ceramic material should be a more ideal biomaterial than the current ideal bioceramic material.
"Silicon Nitride Ceramic Artificial Joint Implant R & D and Industrialization Project" Cooperation Information
In recent years, China's medical device industry has been very active in investment and mergers and acquisitions. Both the number of transactions and the amount of transactions have increased significantly. Even many traditional foreign trade companies are interested in investing in the medical device industry across borders. Important documents such as "Made in China 2020" and "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" have clearly listed high-performance medical devices as key development industries, and the development of China's medical device industry will accelerate in the future.
Figure 5 Project holder "Silicon Nitride Ceramic Artificial Joint Material Prototype"
Silicon nitride material has excellent physical and chemical properties and is reused in many industrial fields, such as silicon nitride bearings, cutting tools, electronic materials, but it is also a relatively new application area in the field of bioceramics. As a new generation of biomedical ceramic materials, various indicators of silicon nitride ceramics are very suitable for the needs of human bone implants, and their future economic and social benefits will be considerable. Although the future of silicon nitride biomaterials is promising, ceramic joint implants belong to the third category of medical devices that are highly regulated by the state before they can be launched after comparative clinical trials. Some companies are currently deploying such products, but there is no such product on the market. Domestic silicon nitride ceramic joint material. In the global medical silicon nitride ceramic manufacturers, only Amecida has FDA-approved silicon nitride products and human implantation cases.