Search offers

 

<< Back to profile list

Enquire about this opportunity - see below

Country of origin: Portugal

Summary

A Portuguese University developed a new concept of flexible biodegradable membranes to be used in a series of orthopedic applications, aimed to direct the growth of new bone and soft tissue at places with insufficient volumes/dimensions for proper function or to isolate bone defects. Its features make it potentially applicable in guided tissue/bone regeneration, allowing the regeneration/replacement therapies of mineralized tissues. They are looking for co-development or manufacturing agreements

Full description

Guided Tissue Regeneration (GTR) is a well established therapeutic tool that permits the reconstruction treatment of damaged tissues using a membrane that isolates the defect region from the invasion of other tissues, mainly connective tissue. Periodontal diseases are frequent in Humans and constitute, together with dental caries, the principal cause of teeth loss in adults. The cicatrization of gum or bone tissue upon periodontal surgeries, such as teeth removal, results in a preferential formation of soft connective tissue rather than bone tissue. Bone resorption after teeth extraction is continuous in alveolar bone, making more difficult posterior implantations and also the recovery of the aesthetic gum contours. GTR is a surgical procedure that uses a barrier membrane which is placed under the gum and over the remaining bone. The purpose of the procedure is to enhance and allow for the regeneration of new bone in an area where teeth are being extracted or have already been removed. Similar to GTR, the concept of Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) is applied at dental implant sites where a membrane is used to cover the bone defect to encourage new bone ingrowth while preventing the ingrowth of fibrous tissue into the grafted site. Much effort has been done in developing or improving polymeric membranes that could facilitate the regeneration of tissues in defined regions, by minimizing the effect of the pressure inflicted by surrounded soft tissues or preventing the penetration of conjunctive and epithelial tissue.

Osteoconductive membranes have been proposed in GTR/GBR applications to promote bone tissue healing or new bone formation. The conventional way to produce such membranes is to combine polymers and particles from bioactive inorganic materials. The research team used previous experience in biomaterials science and technology and tissue engineering to develop a new generation of biodegradable flexible membranes with improved potential osteointegration in the side where bone regeneration should be stimulated.

The proposed technology combines solvent casting  based methods and particles deposition to produce membranes derived from biodegradable polyesters that exhibits different bioactivity in the two sides. In vitro biomineralization tests already validated the concept. Mechanical characterization in physiological simulated conditions and biological evaluation through direct cell contact tests demonstrated the suitability of such membranes for the envisage applications.

Innovative Aspects

The present technology enables the production of flexible membranes, with a degradation time scale from weeks to months, fabricated as a single layer, using a single processing step, in which the bioactive component exhibits a gradient or an asymmetric concentration along the thickness of the membrane. Such possibility represents an advance in the design of such devices currently offered in the market, as it promotes osteointegration from one side while the other side may interact in a different way with the soft tissues.
The technology of producing the proposed membranes is easily scaled-up and a variety of parameters can be changed and optimized for specific applications, including the nature and composition of materials or the geometry of the device.
The technology also offers the possibility to include therapeutic molecules in the membranes, which could be released in a sustained way during the desired applications.

Partner expertise sought:

- Type of partner sought: companies.

- Specific area of activity of the partner: Primarily, manufacturers of dental implants and biomaterials and any manufacturers looking for osteoconductive membrane for different orthopedic applications.


- Task to be performed by the partner sought: The University is looking for companies interested in co-developing the technology for being adapted and tested in accordance with the application envisaged. Also companies able to scale up the technology operations and manufacturing are pertinent.

Listed under: Medicine and Health \ Biosciences and Health \ Medical Devices

Show me similar profiles (138)

 

Key dates Profile created on: 29 July 2010 Closing date: 15 November 2010

Select an option from below to enquire about this opportunity: