Fraunhofer ISC
Innovative in vitro eye irritation test to replace standard animal testing
10.03.2023
Researchers at the Translational Center for Regenerative Therapies TLC-RT of the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC want to work with partners to replace animal testing.
Satoshi Tanikawa, et al. 2023
Healing the brain: hydrogels enable neuronal tissue growth
03.03.2023
Synthetic hydrogels were shown to provide an effective scaffold for neuronal tissue growth in areas of brain damage, providing a possible approach for brain tissue reconstruction.
imagesourcecurated
Electrodes grown in the brain – paving the way for future therapies for neurological disorders
02.03.2023
The boundaries between biology and technology are becoming blurred. Researchers at Linköping, Lund, and Gothenburg universities in Sweden have successfully grown electrodes in living tissue using the body’s molecules as triggers. The result, published in the journal Science, paves the way for the formation of fully integrated electronic circuits in living organisms.
Vaibhav Srivastava
Mucus-based gel improves bone graft results, promotes healing
14.02.2023
Molecules from mucus can be used to produce synthetic bone graft material and help with the healing of larger bone loss, a new study found.
Beachbumledford
Controlled manufacture, storage and freezing of artificial retinal cells
25.01.2023
Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a new method for the production and clinical application of stem-cell-based retinal implants, which could contribute towards the successful treatment of AMD.
ARTFULLY79
Technology in wound care: tools for better healing
01.12.2022
Wounds – both acute and chronic ones – can have many different causes. They all have in common that they require meticulous care because complications in wound healing can severely reduce both the patients’ health and quality of life. But there is more to modern wound care than just cleaning and bandaging them. Nursing staff and physicians can also access technical aids for this work.
DegrooteStock
Wound care: healing with technology
01.12.2022
Wound care by nurses is directly about cleaning, sterile covering, and documentation. Medical and surgical interventions may also be necessary. In this context, wound care also offers potential for the use of technical aids that can help prevent complications.
Lena Holm
Scientists develop gel made from spider silk proteins for biomedical applications
19.08.2022
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have discovered that spider silk proteins can be fused to biologically active proteins and be converted into a gel at body temperature.
Berthold Steinhilber
Ex vivo obesity research thanks to the adipose-on-chip system
08.07.2022
Ex vivo studies of human obesity without animal testing? The Adipose-on-Chip system offers a solution that allows scientists to gain better insights into various obesity-linked secondary diseases and comorbidities in the future.
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.
Gabriel Salg/Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Using 3D printing to create insulin-producing cells
22.02.2022
3D printing opens a world of endless possibilities – for both industrial and medical applications. A cross-national project recently created tissue that produces insulin, spelling hope for patients with diabetes.
Tissue Engineering and Bioprinting – From artificial heart valves and printed humans
27.01.2021
Drug research and artificial skin replacement - these are the areas in which tissue engineering and bioprinting are already used today. What else could be possible in the future? We asked Dr. Nadine Nottrodt from Fraunhofer ILT and Prof. Sabine Neuß-Stein from RWTH Aachen University Hospital!
Multi-photon lithography: printing cells with micrometer accuracy
01.12.2020
How do cells react to certain drugs? And how exactly is new tissue created? This can be analyzed by using bioprinting to embed cells in fine frameworks. However, current methods are often imprecise or too slow to process cells before they are damaged. At the TU Vienna, a high-resolution bioprinting process has now been developed using a new bio-ink.
"Cells are highly sensitive" – material development for bioprinting
01.12.2020
The big hope of bioprinting is to someday be able to print whole human organs. So far, the process has been limited to testing platforms such as organs-on-a-chip. That's because the actual printing process already poses challenges. Scientists need suitable printing materials that ensure the cell's survival as it undergoes the procedure. The Fraunhofer IGB is researching and analyzing this aspect.
Bioprinting: life from the printer
01.12.2020
It aims at the production of test systems for drug research and gives patients on the waiting lists for donor organs hope: bioprinting. Thereby biologically functional tissues are printed. But how does that actually work? What are the different bioprinting methods? And can entire organs be printed with it? These and other questions are examined in our Topic of the Month.
Medical products made of collagen - Biocompatible, elastic, stable
19.03.2020
Regenerative medicine often relies on implants and materials that support healing in our body. Collagen has a special significance here. It is compatible to the body and offers an excellent environment for the growing of new cells. In our video, we took a look on where collagen and collagen products for medicine come from.
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.
Multi-organ chips: Drug research without animal testing at vasQlab
15.05.2019
New active substances that are suitable for drugs are initially tested in animal experiments. However, the results cannot always be transferred to the human organism. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Prof. Ute Schepers from vasQlab explains how active substances can be tested in human tissue without endangering human health.