iSMaRT Lab
Smart implants to monitor healing
29/06/2022
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are creating patient-specific 3D-printed smart metamaterial implants that double as sensors to monitor spinal healing.
Astrid Eckert / TUM
Multi-functional bandage helps wounds to heal
08/06/2022
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a film that not only protects wounds similar to the way a bandage does, but also helps wounds to heal faster, repels bacteria, dampens inflammation, releases active pharmaceutical ingredients in a targeted manner and ultimately dissolves by itself.
Fibers for fibers – Textile implants repair the body
08/06/2022
We are nowadays already able to weave implants out of artificial fibers that can replace tissue or heal injuries. Different materials like polymers or nitinol are used to create flexible shapes. But the materials and their uses can still be improved.
USZ
Human liver treated in a machine and transplanted for the first time
07/06/2022
The multidisciplinary Zurich research team Liver4Life has succeeded in doing something during a treatment attempt that had never been achieved in the history of medicine until now: it treated an originally damaged human liver in a machine for three days outside a body and then implanted the recovered organ into a cancer patient. One year later, the patient is doing well.
Andreas Heddergott/TUM
3D printed, bioinspired heart valves
06/06/2022
Researchers have developed 3D printed artificial heart valves designed to allow a patient’s own cells to form new tissue. To form these scaffolds using melt electrowriting – an advanced additive manufacturing technique – the team has created a new fabrication platform that enables them to combine different precise, customized patterns and hence to fine-tune the scaffold’s mechanical properties.
Kacey Ronaldson-Bouchard/Columbia Engineering
Plug-and-play organ-on-a-chip can be customized to the patient
05/05/2022
Major advance from Columbia Engineering team demonstrates first multi-organ chip made of engineered human tissues linked by vascular flow for improved modeling of systemic diseases like cancer
PantherMedia/npudov
Implants: When technology makes sense – quite literally
01/12/2021
Disease, injury, or a condition you were born with – reasons why some people must live without one or several of their five senses. Fortunately, there are many modern sensory aids that help replace one sense with another, which is especially the case when it comes to vision and hearing. Given technology's advancements, can artificial or biological implants someday soon be a viable alternative?
Intelligent implants: when the material is the key to the solution
01/02/2021
Today we use implants to stabilize or compensate for injuries inside the body and to aid in the healing process. Implants cannot act autonomously and treat the patient if they deem it necessary. However, it is just a matter of time before this happens because research on intelligent implant materials that respond to stimuli is on the cusp of a breakthrough.
Regenerative medicine: creating a new body?
03/02/2020
Regenerative medicine aims to repair the human body after injuries, accidents or major cancer surgery. Unfortunately, we are still not at a stage where this process can achieve optimal results for every conceivable situation. Having said that, various new methods are on the cusp of breakthrough.
Regenerative medicine: helps the body healing
03/02/2020
Severe wounds heal slowly and leave scars. This is why we have been using regenerative therapies for some time now to accelerate and improve healing. They also help to avoid permanent damage. Still, complex applications like replacing organs or limbs will rather remain vision than become reality for a long time.
Angiogenesis: light shows blood vessels the way
03/02/2020
Regenerative medicine aims to replace damage in the body with functional tissue and restore normal function. The first defense for large defects are implants made of hydrogels, designed to promote cell growth. They need their own blood supply, which is a problem when it comes to larger implants because you cannot regulate where and how the blood vessels grow - until now.
rhCollagen: genetically engineered building block for regenerative medicine
03/02/2020
Collagen is the stuff that holds our bodies together and that houses our cells. In regenerative medicine, it is also the stuff that can be applied to wounds to support healing. However, collagen from animal or human sources has some drawbacks for today’s medicine. This is where rhCollagen from the Israeli company CollPlant comes into play.
panthermedia.net/kasto
Cardiac Tissue Engineering: a heart out of the Petri dish
23/09/2019
For patients waiting for donor organs, every day can mean the difference between life and death. Making things even more complicated is the fact that not every organ is a compatible match with the patient. It would mean enormous progress if we could grow organs from the patient's own cells in the lab. That's why patients with heart disease place big hope in tissue engineering.
Sports medicine – keep moving to stay healthy
01/07/2019
Physical activity plays a big role in today's society. Whether you are an amateur or professional athlete – incorporating exercise into your life positively impacts your mental and physical health. Ideally, sport should be fun, pressure-free and not overburden you. But can you measure individual performance and align it with sports?
panthermedia.net/Wavebreakmedia ltd
Regenerative heart valves: from simulation to replacement
23/07/2018
Every year, more than 250,000 patients worldwide receive heart valve implants. Children require repeated replacement surgery because their bodies are still growing, the prosthetic heart valves are not. Regenerative heart valves solve this problem. Until now, we have only been able to monitor how these living implants develop in the body after the fact. Computer models now make this predictable.
Leibniz University of Hanover/Institute of Technical Chemistry
Tissue engineering: how to grow a bypass
23/04/2018
A bypass is a complicated structure. It is either made of synthetic materials that can cause blood clots and infections or created by using the patient’s veins. However, the latter often does not yield adequate material. A newly developed bioreactor could solve this problem in the future. It is designed to tissue engineer vascular grafts by using the body’s own material.