Patents presented

Intracanal Endo Treatment

Endodontics is the part of dentistry that deals with disorders of the dental pulp and their consequences on the periradicular tissues. The present finding solves one of the main causes of failure in other treatments: the elimination of residual bacteria inside the root canal in the final phase of endodontics. Treatment success lies in the use of nanoparticles, which can dissolve the polymeric extracellular matrix, resulting in better penetration into the dentinal tubules and greater antibacterial capacity.

Prefabricated extension module for cantilever attachment to building façade - BIP (Industrialised Folding Balcony)

During the COVID pandemic, a growing social demand for terraces and balconies was detected in a building landscape that had neglected this type of outdoor space installation in recent times.

Therefore, light balconies produced in a factory line that could be easily added or anchored to the façades as large shelves were initially proposed for the renovation market.

Subsequently, the interesting idea of proposing these balconies for new builds arose, taking advantage of current industrialised building trends. Just as prefabricated bathrooms are being produced to be introduced into new hotels or residential blocks, these balconies could also be incorporated into the façades of these new industrialised buildings. 

An isoprene-based matrix composition

Currently, root canal treatment is the most common solution to maintaining the teeth of patients that have suffered from a trauma or a profound caries that has resulted in root canal infection. For this purpose, Gutta-percha (GP) is one of the main materials used to fill root canals, presenting excellent biocompatibility and good sealing ability. However, GP poor bonding ability to dental tissues has led to high failure rates in endodontic treatments. Among the different options that are being explored as novel endodontic materials, bioactive elements are a promising strategy to improve root canal treatments. For instance, silica-based microspheres (SiMS), are an example of bioactive elements that present an active surface and chemical composition that may provide a stronger adhesion to dentin tissue, biocompatibility and the possibility to serve as a possible drug delivery system.

System for assessing and treating the cervical spine

Neck pain is recorded in 2,696 individuals, with an incidence of 579 cases per 100,000 people. Notably, approximately 50% of individuals who experience cervical pain will manifest a chronic condition, entailing concomitant challenges associated with neck discomfort.

In addition to the pain itself, individuals with neck pain usually have a restricted range of motion and reduced muscular strength. It has been observed that neck exercises can improve pain, range of motion, and neck strength in these patients. Furthermore, this type of treatment could be performed in subjects without neck pain for prevention.

It has been shown that the effectiveness of cervical exercises is based on adapting and personalising them to each patient. To achieve this, it is essential to have objective measurements of neck mobility and strength. These records provide a basis for prescribing and setting treatment goals, simultaneously allowing for continuous monitoring.

The devices that enable this collective assessment are quite bulky. Other types of devices allow for the evaluation of cervical movement or strength but in isolation. Our patent is a device that allows joint assessment of cervical movement and strength and can be adjusted for treatment purposes. In addition, the portable device has a compact size that facilitates transportation, allowing remote treatment.

Solid personal care product and production methodology 

The emergence of polymeric materials has brought about significant progress in the scientific community and society, thanks to the fact that they are able to meet an extensive number of functionalities by simply tailoring their properties. In the pharmaceutical, dermatology and cosmetics industries these materials have primarily found application in packaging systems, serving as either primary or secondary packaging. The cosmetics industry alone contributes 120 billion units of plastic packaging with a meagre 14% of these containers being recycled. It is therefore imperative to reduce plastic usage in the products applied on the skin and foster a more sustainable ecosystem. In order to reduce the plastic generated, we have developed carriers that can contain any therapeutic ingredient and are then placed in biodegradable and sustainable containers. The therapeutic carriers are individually packed within primary packaging, both of which are hydro-soluble and therefore part of a zero-waste system. 

Ink for 3D printing

Silica 3D printable materials are an interesting option in bone tissue engineering as they allow for the development of custom-made scaffolds with high bioactivity and osteogenic properties. However, all pure silica scaffolds currently require the use of a sintering step, which reduces the specific surface and porosity of the scaffolds while also limiting their biological activity and drug encapsulation. Therefore, we have proposed a method to obtain pure silica-based scaffolds using a mild temperature as a trigger to start the reaction. This is carried out in a way that the reaction can be controlled and slowed down by lowering the temperature after the gel step; achieving a long printing window and the ability to store the prepared ink for a long period, maintaining the mesoporosity, bioactivity and biocompatibility of silica-based materials.