According to an article in the Farmington Post, Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, has provided seed funding of $250,000 to New Ortho Polymers Inc (NOP) of Farmington through its Seed Investment Fund.
The funding will be used to help NOP develop innovative orthodontic systems that make use of proprietary shape-memory polymer technology developed at the University of Connecticut. NOP is based on patented technology using polymer materials in orthodontic appliances developed by Charles Burstone, DDS, professor emeritus for the Department of Orthodontics at the UConn Health Center and A. Jon Goldberg, PhD, director of the Center of Biomaterials at the UConn Health Center and member of the University of Connecticut’s Institute of Materials Science.
CI’s Deputy Director Peter Longo said the systems, including polymer-based self-ligating brackets, archwires, hooks, and modules, will make it easier for orthodontists to apply braces and will offer patients both greater comfort—through the use of lighter, more consistent forces—and a more aesthetic look compared with metal-based systems.
The NOP team consists of Burstone; Goldberg; Eleanor Tandler, CEO; Patrick Mather, PhD; Milton Stevenson, professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University; and Ann Stevenson, former associate professor of chemical engineering at UConn.
"New Ortho Polymers and other entrepreneurial ventures are vital to the state in so many ways," said Gov M. Jodi Rell (R-Hartford). "They are spawning the next generation of high-tech products and creating high-quality jobs of the future for our citizens."
Tandler said with CI as a collaborator, "We plan to continue our research efforts to bring to market some of the most innovative orthodontic products designed and developed by some of the most renowned scientists in each of their respective fields of study."
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