A NEW generation of medical implants for the human body could be the outcome of a collaboration between Malvern's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and an Australian firm.
DERA and Sumich Group Ltd are getting together to develop biologically-compatible silicon chips.
A new company, pSiMedica Ltd, has been formed to exploit a form of porous silicon, which has been given the trademarked name of BioSilicon.
pSiMedica, based on Malvern's science park, has been given an exclusive licence to develop and manufacture products from BioSilicon.
Prof Leigh Canham and Dr Robin Godfrey, of DERA Malvern, have researched porous silicon extensively, and were the first to explore its commercial possibilities.
Prof Canham, the chief scientific officer of the new company, said: "I think it's a very exciting area, and there seems to be a big surge of interest in using microsystems in the biomedical field."
The importance of BioSilicon is that it is biocompatible and biodegradable, so that it can be used to make devices which can be implanted in the human body.
pSiMedica's initial funding of £1.125 million will enable the company to research and develop the substance.
During the first two years of operation, the company will work with strategic partners including hospitals and universities in the UK, USA and Australia to come up with applications for BioSilicon.
Among those will be using BioSilicon for controlled drug delivery and in orthopaedics.
Dr Derek Barnes of DERA said: "pSiMedica offers enormous potential, and we expect our BioSilicon technology to rapidly progress to successful commercialisation."
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