A company with a material (Intellectual Property) that spans many industries is currently valued at basically nothing (tangible assets) and Si3N4 is not their only ceramic. Stockholders equity as of the last 10Q was $10m with intangible assets equating to $20k. I missed something that no one has talked about from the companies presentation, Cancer treatment as new product for revenue. How can Si3n4 be used for cancer treatment? Is it filtering membrane to capture tumor cells? Is that the new market and product opportunity?
Ultrathin silicon nitride membrane with slit-shaped pores for high-performance separation of circulating tumor cells
The silicon nitride (Si3N4) filtering membrane was fabricated via the standard microfabrication technology, which can be easily scaled up to mass-production. 6 µm was determined as the optimum width of the filtering pores to better separate CTCs in whole blood, which can reach a high capture efficiency of ~96%.
List of industries and potential products that they could and are developing products for. The sectors where i know they have products in development ive broken down further. Silicon Nitride could be in most healthcare related products with all its uses.
Armor (Body, vehicle, aerospace) Energy (Accident tolerant fuel containment systems for nuclear reactors. Receiver tubes for concentrated solar-thermal power systems.) Aviation and Aerospace Industry (combustor, radomes, and RF windows, engine ignighters, turbine blades, heat exchangers.) (Outside of Silicon Nitride are CMC for airplane engine components) Hypersonic Industry (CMCs for hypersonics as well) Electronics Industry (Biosensors & optics) The Ideal Biomaterial (Spinal, Dental, Craniomaxillofacial, Foot Osteotomy & Fusion, Wound Care, Arthroplasty (Hip, Knee, Shouler, Ankle)) Antipathogenic (Masks, Medical Tubing, Surgical Gowns, Drapes, and Curtains, Filters, Consumer Products (High Touch Products), Public Transportation (High Touch Surfaces)) Biosensors Rapid Prototyping RF COMPONENTS Welding Automotive
Thats just the applications mentioned on their website, presentations, & SEC filings that i noticed. A few more are listed within the following scientific study:
Silicon Nitride, a Close to Ideal Ceramic Material for Medical Application
examples of their medical applications that relate to spinal, orthopedic and dental implants, bone grafts and scaffolds, platforms for intelligent synthetic neural circuits, antibacterial and antiviral particles and coatings, optical biosensors, and nano-photonic waveguides for sophisticated medical diagnostic devices are all covered in the research reviewed herein. The examples provided convincingly show that silicon nitride is destined to become a leader to replace titanium and other entrenched biomaterials in many fields of medicine.