According to the National Joint Registry, Total Knee Replacement (TKR) is generally a successful elective operation, with more than 100,000 primary TKR procedures performed every year in England and Wales alone. However 5-10% require reoperation and replacement within 10 years of initial surgery, with the cost of some procedures reaching £75,000 per patient. Additionally, up to 30% of recipients report little or no symptom improvement and/or dissatisfaction with the results. The increasing cost of current product materials and globally decreasing market prices, together with an ageing population, changing patient expectations and increasing population BMI, creates the opportunity. A PEEK knee product can be manufactured with a 6 minute, one shot moulding process at a significant cost reduction over incumbent materials that can take 6 weeks to manufacture, offering opportunities for supply chain improvements. A first iteration of a PEEK femoral knee component has been developed and has been implanted into a small number of patients in a pre-market, global feasibility study designed to assess safety and efficacy. This device comprises a cemented femoral component used in conjunction with an all polyethylene tibia and patellar replacement. To optimise clinical outcomes for different groups of patients, additional variants of this TKR will be required, such as modular tibial components and cementless fixation options. This research programme is set to revolutionise knee replacement, using advanced materials technology combined with enhanced preclinical evaluation simulation methods to develop an affordable all polymer knee replacement that fixes securely into bone and minimises wear. The research will create a platform from which further medical treatment options could be developed, to meet other currently unmet needs (for example, long term soft tissue repair, facial reconstruction, metal sensitive orthopaedic patients).

The Innovation and Knowledge Centre in Regenerative Therapies and Devices has established a sustainable platform to address the creation of new technologies in Regenerative Therapies and Devices. Through strategic prioritisation and development of key technology areas we have sought to promote their accelerated adoption, with increased reliability, within a complex global marketplace with increasing cost constraints. Therapies and devices which facilitate the regeneration of body tissues offer the potential to revolutionise healthcare and be a catalyst for economic growth, creating a new business sector within healthcare technology. The IKCRTD has built upon the culture and research landscape of the University and its partners (industry, NHS and intermediaries/users) through the development of new innovation infrastructure and practices which deliver major clinical, health and industry outcomes. In the first two years of operation IKCRTD has: Established a high quality research and innovation platform that is underpinned by: £85m new research income Established academic supply chain, new research centre with 250 researchers University investment for a new Medical Technologies Innovation building to create a community to stimulate innovation. Embedded successful sustainable innovation through: The development of a robust sustainability model Strategic identification and prioritisation of key market sectors Contributing to the development of 35 new products that have reached the market Developing a culture of innovation across academic, industry and clinical partnerships. Established a significant profile and reputation through: Significant political visits and media coverage Widened reach and connections across the UK through strategic alignment with Regener8 Established a Medical Technologies brand to facilitate companies, academics and clinical partners to collaborate with the centre. Established robust innovation management through: Recruited and established core team and set up governance structures Established an innovation pipeline, stage gates and the criteria for project progression A defined IP portfolio, 11 Proof of Concept and 4 Co-Development projects directly funded Pipeline of 107 collaborative innovation projects Engagement with 34 company partners Access to wider network of 200 plus potential collaborative companies.

This project proposes to investigate the way the polymeric powders of different shapes and sizes flow, interact and sinter in the Laser Sintering process, through modelling and experimental validation. Laser sintering is part of the additive manufacturing technology, known for its benefits in industries where custom made products, lightweight and complex designs are required. In laser sintering a polymer powder bed is heated to just below its melt temperature. A laser is then focused onto the bed which scans a raster pattern of a single layer of the final part. The bed lowers slightly and a new layer of powder is applied. The process is then repeated until the component is made and the additive layer process is complete. The spreading and compaction of the powder is an important part of the LS process, a non-uniform layer of powder leads to high porosity and weaker bonding between layers and therefore a structure with poor mechanical performance. Similarly, the size and shape of particles can change the sintering process. Larger contact areas between particles lead to a good sintering profile and ultimately to a high density part and good mechanical properties. Surface area of particles, polymer viscosity and surface tension are characteristics which will be considered when modelling the flow and sintering process.

Organic synthesis allows humans to develop molecules that treat disease, efficiently grow crops, power our homes with innovative fuels and lubricants, and develop materials and plastics that are essential for modern life. Redox reactions are an important class of organic transformation where electrons are added or removed from molecules to engender a chemical reaction. This reaction is typically driven by the addition of a reactive redox reagent, which creates large quantities of waste that are often toxic and expensive to dispose of. Electrochemistry is an enabling technology for organic synthesis, as it replaces these reagents by directly transferring electrons at the surface of electrodes submerged in the reaction solution. There are two main advantages to this technique. The first is that lower amounts of waste, or no waste at all, is produced and less energy is needed, providing a more efficient and environmentally sustainable way to conduct redox reactions. The second is that the applied potential, or driving force, can be readily tuned, which provides greater selectivity, new reactivity, higher functional group tolerance and less undesired side-products. While providing efficiency, selectivity and environmental benefits, there are practical challenges associated with electrochemical reactions when compared to standard synthetic organic reactions. The greatest challenge with using the technique is often associated with the set-ups, which can be complex, expensive, are not well suited for parallelisation/reaction development and often lead to poor reproducibility. Thus, there is an urgent need to tackle these problems in order to advance the field. In this project, we will develop new reactor systems to aid each stage of reaction development, namely; discovery, optimisation, dissemination and replication. We will focus on additive manufacturing (3D printing) as an inexpensive, rapid and flexible prototyping tool to generate systems that are accessible, inexpensive and, importantly, highly reproducible for organic synthesis. We will develop new materials, innovative designs, print procedures and optimisation tools for reactors, which will be used in the development of a number of synthetic transformations, for which we have preliminary data, but require new reactor-systems to advance further. We will also conduct fundamental studies to further understand the reproducibility issues that currently plague the use of electrochemistry in synthesis. Specifically, the high-level objectives are to a) invent a screening system for organic electrochemistry, b) solve the reproducibility problem, c) create Super-Cells: the next generation of reactors of organic electrochemistry. This 3D printed approach to organic electrochemistry will increase the speed and ease with which novel organic transformations are developed and reproduced, ensuring electrochemistry can deliver on its potential of highly efficient and sustainable chemical reactions. This project will facilitate wide-spread adoption of the technique in organic synthesis, and deliver fundamental understanding, environmental and economic benefits to industry, academia and society as a whole.

Composites based on continuous fibre prepreg sheet laminates are a mature technology - widely used in the aviation industry for key structural components, However, the future horizon for composite development now lies in providing lightweight thick-section composite parts aimed at replacing metal components predominantly within the automotive sector. High thermal tolerance, thick section composites that are tough and durable could now offer a viable metal replacement technology for an expanding range of sub-chassis applications, particularly wheels, suspension, braking systems gear casings, rotor shrouds and components within the engine compartment. Historically, monolith-type, thick-section parts have typically been made from aluminium or steel, and exceptionally with thermoset composites - but these have fundamental drawbacks when used for thick-section moulding. Thermoplastic discontinuous fibre tapes offer a tantalising alternative to traditional thermosets. Thermoplastic composites (TPC) based on e.g. PEEK and high-performance Nylons have the potential to offer a viable lightweight aluminium replacement option, with superior toughness and fatigue performance - both critical considerations for both automotive and aviation applications. The excellent formability and high flow characteristics mean parts can be produced quickly and cheaply with part counts into the 100,000's, making this class of composites uniquely suited to the volume demanded by the automotive industry, whilst also being capable of being used in thick section mouldings . The recent development of Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) carbon fibre moulding compounds at Exeter showed that this material achieves a bulk modulus of ~40GPa when hot-pressed, which, whilst short of the ~70GPa offered by aluminium, is a marked improvement over previous offerings. Recent advances in manufacturing approach pioneered by the University of Exeter have seen the achievable modulus reliably pushed above 70GPa - directly on par with Aluminium, and, most excitingly, a technique by which controlled, localised orientation might be achieved through the use of pre-consolidated charges, exploiting the high viscosity of the material during manufacture. This technique could revolutionise the TPC sector, allowing the simple manufacture of thick-section components with the optimised design properties previously found only in multiaxial ATL processes. The new "pre-charges" route being proposed, will simplify manufacture, and remove the barriers to rapid volume production, similar to the advent of prepregs and SMC in the 1970's, that made possible the controlled, mass-manufacture of high performance composites in the aviation and automotive industries. A base line improvement in properties together with the removal of manufacturing barriers, could change the current emphasis on thermosets to thermoplastics, which is highly important environmentally. Recycling of most types of thermosets is not commercially viable, despite extensive research into the area. Thermoplastic based systems have the potential to solve the recycling issue, with the ability to melt and re-press components without performance implications greatly improving the recyclability of the material - a characteristic that has long eluded thermoset CFRP's. Moreover, this trait lends itself exceptionally well to in-situ repair and damage healing. The viability of remanufacture and remoulding of composites needs to be established for all of the most common TPC's available. The study will both consider the remanufacture of components (closed loop recycling), and also the viability of 'shape change' with TPC's, i.e. the extent to which materials can be reprocessed like metals through re-melting and reforming multiple times. The future vision is for manufacturers to include recycling/remanufacture instructions as part of standard materials datasheets.