Biomedical technology
View of the cellular biology laboratory at ITM, where project-accompanying polymer samples, filaments and textiles functional models are examined regarding their suitability as products for biomedical applications
Demographic shift in Germany and changing work and living conditions bring great challenges for medical technology, which does not only contribute to efficient healthcare, but is also an important economic and employment market factor. Medical products have a revenue of around 25.4 billion € each year in Germany alone. Within the context of this area, technical and technological solutions are being researched to provide individual, customized solutions for intercorporeal (implants, cell carrier systems, etc.) and extracoporeal (ortheses, bandages...) applications.
The textile-technical solutions contribute to a positive development of health products and health economy in Germany. Biotextiles and medical textiles are the shooting stars among technical textiles. The widely varied applications of medical and biotextiles drive innovation in the field of technical textiles. Textile structures area ideal for use as implants and organ replacements. Fiber-based high-tech products have been used for decades as functional replacements for natural tissue (vessel prostheses, bone implants, and artificial muscles), for force transfer as plastic reinforcement in the form of tendon, ligament, and joint replacements, tissue support for ligament augmentation and rupture fixation (hernia nets), or as auxiliary material (sutures, ortheses). Therefore, these applications are the current focus of R&D efforts at the ITM.
The development and realization of requirement-adapted medical and biotextiles demands active interdisciplinary efforts of the ITM scientists. Engineering, biology, and medicine work together at the ITM to develop products and solutions going far beyond the state of the art. Interdisciplinary co-operation with other technical areas, and representatives from medicine are the decisive foundation for a continuous research work in the following subject areas:
- R&D for textile-based biomedicine technology (intracorporeal products) and innovative medical textiles (extracorporeal products),
- machine development (modification of existing machines, construction of new machines, design of new production lines) for the production of medical textiles,
- material and product development (thread, structure, scaffold, implant),
- development of bioreactors, new test methods, and test devices, and
- development of biosensor and design of sensor networks.
The research activities in the field of medical and biotextiles carried out at the ITM can be classified as follows:
- Biomedical technology
- Medical textiles - Textile Technology
- Medical textiles - Ready-made technology