Material Development
The work in this section concentrates on developing suitable materials for implants, by preparing tissue-specific scaffolds or solid implants and then functionalising their surfaces. This is discussed in advance with our colleagues in the BIO section and the basic materials are manufactured by the departments of chemistry which collaborate with us - the Departments of Organic, Inorganic and Technical Chemistry in Leibniz University Hannover - in the form of inorganic, organic or bioorganic materials or composites with biosimilar character. These materials must be biocompatible and it must be easy to structure them for the target implant or tissue. What would be ideal would be to employ specific chemical, biochemical or physical modification to achieve patient-specific humanisation, so that rejection reactions and infections are excluded and optimal patient-specific function is attained in the body. The work includes synthetic studies on the basic materials, together with the optimal processing methods to achieve sterility, freedom from toxins and endotoxins, as well as other desirable properties. One focus of the studies will be the humanisation of the materials, particularly their surfaces. Possible approaches include decoration with nanoparticles, with components of the extracellular matrix or with cells. It is also planned to develop controlled release systems. This work is performed in close collaboration with the Biocompatibility module, in order to test the materials at the cellular and molecular levels. The optimal materials and material modifications are to be developed for all model systems within three years. This broad range of manufactured materials and modifications will then be made available for other areas of work.
