Biomaterials - Pro-regenerative biomaterials for tissue regeneration

Internal event (Department/Institute)

Advanced Therapies

This course will introduce you to the role of biomaterials, from their use as a research tool to their application in in vivo tissue regeneration. We will provide both, the background of biomaterial chemistry, fabrication and pro-regenerative function as well as their handling and the requirements for in vivo application.

Biomaterials - Pro-regenerative biomaterials for tissue regeneration

Course format: seminar and hands-on sessions

Requirements: prior knowledge of biomaterials research or 3D printing is not required

This course will introduce you to the role of biomaterials, from their use as a research tool to their application in in vivo tissue regeneration. We will provide both, the background of biomaterial chemistry, fabrication and pro-regenerative function as well as their handling and the requirements for in vivo application. Due to the wide application of biomaterials in the orthopedic field, the focus will be on bone regeneration, but examples from other fields and future biomaterial developments for other organs will also be covered. Overall, you will learn how biomaterials have evolved from passive support structures replacing damaged tissue to bioactive pro-regenerative tools for tissue regeneration targeting individual cell functions.

Classes of biomaterials, their chemical basis and methods for their fabrication will be presented and disussed in an interactive format. A special focus will be on additive manufacturing (3D printing), that has recently attracted enormous attention in the biomaterial field and is considered the technology of the future for the fabrication of architecture and/or patient-specific biomaterials. For full tissue regeneration, the biomaterial has to vanish over time and hand over function to endogenously formed tissue. Thus, aspects of biomaterial degradation from a chemical and biological perspective will be another focus of the course. Next to their chemical properties, the internal architecture and the mechanical properties of biomaterials have been shown to be relevant cues to recruit cells and to support their differentiation into tissue-specific cells driving tissue regeneration. Recent findings on this topic will be presented and future concepts based on advancing technical possibilities through additive manufacturing will be discussed.

The theoretical understanding will be consolidated by practical experience with different biomaterials in the lab. You will have the opportunity to develop your own biomaterial design for a specific clinical problem on the drawing board, transfer it to a computer model (no experience with CAD software required), materialize your idea using a 3D printer in the lab and test the functionality of your “product” in respect to its application. Furthermore, a spectrum of biomaterial concepts developed in the BCRT/BSRT network will be presented in the lab and you will have the opportunity to experience their handling properties and learn how these properties relate to in vivo functionality. Aspects of cell seeding, biomaterial implantation and clinical applicability will also be discussed. If you are using or developing biomaterials in your own research project, you will also have the opportunity to discuss your own research questions regarding these biomaterials.

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