“To help people maintain or regain their freedom of movement.”
This is the mission of the German Medtech champion Ottobock. With over a century of experience, Ottobock develops prosthetic solutions aimed at restoring mobility for amputee patients, enabling them to return to active, high-quality lives.
In Ottobock’s prostheses, outstanding structural design is combined with top-tier materials, selected with clear goals in mind: lightness, reliability, and durability. These include not only metal alloys but also composite materials and high-performance synthetic polymers.
At the heart of one of Ottobock’s most extensively tested and market-approved knee prostheses lies a high-performance thermoplastic component: a plastic bushing that enables smooth and controlled knee flexion.
Due to stringent safety requirements, the need for smooth and comfortable movement, and most importantly, a service life exceeding three million cycles, Ottobock had to select a cutting-edge material capable of passing the rigorous tests required before the prosthesis could be adopted by patients.
It was at this point in the development process that LATI and Ottobock came together. United by a shared vision of their role in the market and their responsibility to patients, the two companies partnered to develop the ideal compound for such a demanding application.
The result is LATIMASS SP11 RS-11 D040, an innovative thermoplastic compound based on PA11 and heavily filled with bronze spheres. The chemical and physical nature of polyamide 11, combined with the mechanical and morphological characteristics of the metal particles, allows for the injection molding of next-generation bushings with exceptional self-lubrication properties and outstanding wear resistance.
The new bushings passed all technical and comfort tests, setting a new benchmark in orthopedic knee replacement technology.
Once again, LATI’s catalog of special compounds proves to be a dynamic portfolio of solutions, continuously refined and expanded by the company’s R&D team.
Browse LATI’s range of special materials in our online database, and get in touch with our engineers to discuss your most demanding projects.