Research and Development of Co-based alloys
for Biomedical Applications
The central Iwate-Kamaishi area is the site of the development and commercialization of advanced Ni-less Co-based alloy for biomedical applications, and Iwate Industry Promotion Center is the core organization of the project. This is one of a project,“Regional Innovation Cluster Program (Global Type)”, promoted by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).

Core Research Organization
Institute for Materials Research (Tohoku University), Iwate University, Iwate Medical University, Iwate Prefectural University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Hokkaido University, Kyushu University, Iwate Industrial Research Institute

Major Participating Research Organization
Eiwa Co., Ltd., Epson　Atomix　Corp., IWATE TOKYO WIRE WORKS, Ltd., Japan Medical Materials Corp., JUKI AIZU CORP., NOAS Medical Co., Ltd., Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd., SATO SEIKI Co., Ltd., Seiko Instruments Inc., SHINAGAWA OPTICS Co., Ltd., TOKOSHA CO., Ltd., Yoneda Advanced Casting Co., Ltd.

Co-Cr-Mo alloy has been widely used as a dental and orthopedic implant material such as hip and knee prostheses owing to their excellent biocompatibility, mechanical properties and wear resistance. At present, Ni is unavoidably included in the starting material even when not added on purpose. Plastic forming of a Co-based alloy is difficult, and Ni has therefore been added to improve the workability. However, allergies and other bio-toxicity due to Ni have recently been reported. Therefore, applying Ni-less Co-Cr-Mo alloy to plastic forming process for medical devices is eagerly expected. We are focusing on research and development of advanced Ni-less Co-Cr-Mo alloy for biomedical applications.
Potential Application
The Potential application of Ni-less Co-Cr-Mo alloy is the whole fields of the biomaterials, where the conventional Co-Cr-Mo alloy has been employed such as artificial joints (for hip, knee, elbow etc.), stents for the expansion of a blood vessel, the external and internal fixation for bone, the dental root, the wire for orthodontics, the instrument for surgery and so on.
Customer Benefits
Potential customers can supply the Ni-allergy-risk reduced biomaterials with our advanced Ni-less Co-Cr-Mo alloys.


Iwate Kamaishi Co-Cr-Mo Alloy
Developed and commercialized advanced Ni-less Co-Cr-Mo alloy in Central Iwate-Kamaishi area for biomedical application in Japan. Possessing high strength,　corrosion-wear resistance,　and reducing the Ni-allergy risk. Meets the requirement of ISO-5832-12,　ASTM F1537.


Another Technology
・Nano-sized grain refinement
・Fabrication of artificial hip joint stem with excellent strength by means of semi-closed-die hot forging.
・Development of metal-on-metal artificial hip joints significantly resistant to wear.
・Technique of removing Ni allergic reaction from Co-Cr-Mo alloys containing Ni-impurity in p.p.m order.
・Additive manufacturing by using Electron Beam Melting (rapid prototyping fabrication technique) for artificial hip and knee joints made of Ni-less Co-Cr-Mo alloys.
Hip simulator




Regional Innovation Cluster Program (Global Type)
Establishment of “Innovation Cluster” with high-value-added cobalt-based alloy from Iwate, Japan

Topics of research:
Development of novel and Iwate-original artificial joints with long-term longevity.
Development of wire-drawing and tubing technique for cobalt-based alloys based on the concept of “Intelligent Forging”.
Development of allergy-risk reduced dental products.
Development of custom-made medical devices with reduction of Ni-allergy-risk and MRI-artifact.
Evaluation of biocompatibility of cobalt-based alloys for JIS standardization.

etc

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～　 Inquiry 　～
Iwate Industry Promotion Center
3-35-2, Iioka Shinden, Morioka City, Iwate, 020-0852 Japan
TEL:+81-19-631-3827 FAX:+81-19-631-3830
～ http://www.joho-iwate.or.jp ～