Innovative materials for bone tissue regeneration

What it does

Innovative, bioactive materials obtained in accordance with the principles of Sustainable Development with a nanofiber structure are an advanced tool for personalized bone tissue regeneration

Your inspiration

Our main inspiration is the progress in the field of medicine and dentistry, which causes that doctors take up new challenges in order to save the health and lives of patients. The growing incidence of civilization diseases, the increasing awareness of society and the increasing average life expectancy combined with the desire to improve its quality and comfort mean that more and more patients are looking for effective solutions to their problems, in particular in the area of bone loss regeneration. Providing advanced biomaterials that are easy to obtain will increase the availability of effective methods of tissue reconstruction.

How it works

Innovative technology for the production of innovative membranes will allow for an increase effectiveness of bone reconstruction procedures in dentistry and will bring both social benefits in the form of increased survival of dental implants, translating into an increase in the comfort and quality of life of the society, and environmental benefits, as biomaterials are 100% biodegradable, and the use of modern techniques in the manufacturing process, such as electrospinning and microwave radiation enable a significant reduction in energy and water consumption, and also minimize the amount of waste generated. Tailored nanofibrous biomaterials provide appropriate conditions for bone reconstruction, and bioactive properties ensure that the newly formed tissue will be fully functional and will enable the restoration of the patient's health. The eco-friendly and easily scalable technology will benefit people suffering from bone loss without harming the environment.

Design process

The process of designing our solution was multi-stage. First, we got acquainted with the real needs of both the medical and dental community and their patients, as well as manufacturers of medical devices. The result of our analyzes was the development of an innovative technology for obtaining innovative biomaterials that will be easy to produce and accelerate the process of tissue regeneration. After getting acquainted with the scale of the problem in the form of the number of rejected grafts, we decided to use only non-toxic substances of natural origin and manufacturing techniques that allow us to obtain materials tailored to the needs of a given patient. We also got acquainted with the current requirements for new medical devices. Thanks to obtaining funding under the Innovation Incubator (TRL 4.0), we were able to synthesize new chemical compounds and obtain a number of membranes, also on a larger scale. We subjected the obtained biomaterials not only to analyzes of morphology or physicochemical properties, but also to biological evaluation in accordance with a dedicated standard. Our research clearly confirmed the positive effect of membranes on the process of proliferation of bone-forming cells, thus confirming their potential in the field of medicine.

How it is different

Our solution is unique since it combines aspects like the ability to restore health to patients and care for the environment. Guided bone regeneration procedures are used all over the world and significantly improve the quality and comfort of the patient's life, but their effectiveness largely depends on the quality of the biomaterials used. There are no solutions that not only enable the reconstruction of bone tissue, but also protect the patient against infections and allow non-invasive tracking of the progress of the treatment process. Due to the innovative chemical composition and the possibility of personalization, biomaterials can be fully adapted to the needs of a given patient. Their fluorescence allow for completely painless observation of the reconstruction site and protect against pathogens. They are fully biodegradable, so there is no need for reoperation. Also, they are ideologically neutral, because they do not contain animal raw materials.

Future plans

Our further activities will focus on obtaining international IP protection, as well as conducting in vivo tests on an animal model or medical experiment and other necessary analyzes in certified centers in order to provide clinical data necessary to conduct a clinical assessment, obtain a medical device certificate in accordance with the MDR 2017 guidelines /745 and market implementations. We hope that within a few years our project will turn into a biomaterial available to every patient who needs guided bone regeneration to improve their quality of life and restore health.

Awards

It is our first presentation of this project and first award application due to the high novelty of the invention.