idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
The interdisciplinary research network SIIRI brings together expertise from medicine, engineering and materials research to make implants safer.
The interdisciplinary Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 298 SIIRI (‘Safety-Integrated and Infection-Reactive Implants’) will receive more than ten million euros from the German Research Foundation (DFG) over the next three and a half years to continue developing the implants of tomorrow. SIIRI received funding for the first time four years ago. Since then, more than 150 scientists from Hannover Medical School (MHH), Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, the Technical University of Braunschweig and the University of Music, Drama and Media Hannover have been working together to develop innovative strategies for improving implant safety. ‘This success shows what can be achieved when we join forces,’ said MHH President Prof. Dr. Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner. ‘We want to establish the MHH as a driving force for forward-looking health research. This can only be achieved through a network of first-class partners – such as the SIIRI consortium. I would like to congratulate everyone involved.’
‘Our research into intelligent implants is only possible thanks to the close interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration between scientists from the fields of medicine, dentistry, engineering, natural sciences and social sciences,’ emphasises SIIRI spokesperson Prof. Dr. Meike Stiesch, Director of the Clinic for Dental Prosthetics and Biomedical Materials Science and Dean of Research at MHH. Together, the consortium has researched new strategies for implant safety and achieved outstanding results with international appeal. ‘Our researchers in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry and physics contribute their expertise to the development of implant materials and suitable sensor technology, among other things,’ adds co-spokesperson Prof. Dr. Hans Jürgen Maier, managing director of the Institute of Materials Science at LUH.
Aviation knowledge to make implants safer
The SIIRI consortium is working on new safety strategies for medical implants by, among other things, researching the application of service life and monitoring concepts from engineering sciences, such as those developed in aviation to increase safety, in medicine for the first time. In engineering, safety-related concepts are based on reliable monitoring. Regular checks enable the early detection of possible component damage, the severity of which is measured and responded to accordingly. The SIIRI researchers are making use of this knowledge. Cell-based, chemical and physical detection systems will enable biological or technical implant failure to be detected at an early stage in future, allowing an appropriate response to be made. The overarching goal is always to achieve a sustainable improvement in implant and patient safety.
Digital twins for lifelong tracking
SIIRI scientists are jointly developing intelligent implant systems for dentistry and orthopaedics, as well as hearing implants that use state-of-the-art technology to enable continuous monitoring of implant function and thus early detection of complications such as infections for the first time. "We are developing intelligent implant systems that can independently initiate early repair and thus healing via cell-based, chemical and physical closed-loop systems. Digital concepts such as digital implant life cycle management and digital twins enable lifelong tracking of implants and thus contribute significantly to implant and patient safety," explains Professor Stiesch.
Close cooperation at NIFE
The nucleus of this interdisciplinary research is NIFE (Lower Saxony Centre for Implant Research and Development), which was established at Medical Park Hannover as an internationally renowned research institute, achieves top results in experimental research and brings them into clinical application for various organ systems. NIFE develops biological, biohybrid and biofunctionalised implants designed to replace or restore lost organ functions.
SERVICE
Further information is available from Professor Meike Stiesch, stiesch.meike@mh-hannover.de.
Professor Meike Stiesch.
Copyright: MHH/Hans & Jung, Hanover.
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