Healthcare industry

Press release - 28/09/2012

Safer, more effective and innovative medical devices

Ranging from simple sticking plasters to the most sophisticated life-supporting machines medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices are central to our health and quality of life. To ensure that these devices serve the needs and ensure the safety of European citizens the European Commission proposed two Regulations which are fit for purpose more transparent and better adapted to scientific and technological progress.

Article - 18/09/2012

Michael Kühl: in search of the gene architects of the heart

Michael Kühl is investigating the development of the heart using a broad range of different model organisms. The developmental biologist, director of the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Ulm, also uses evolutionary and systems biology approaches for his work. Kühl’s basic research does not follow an art for art’s sake principle, but also addresses the development of new therapies for the treatment of heart…

Press release - 06/07/2012

Medicyte is receiving 4.2 Mio Euros from the European Union Seventh Framework Programm

Medicyte, The Electrospinning Company and the Universities of Manchester and Pisa launch a European wide unique project with the aim to design a biomimetic bioartificial liver (Re-Liver). The company GABO:mi ensures professional project management. Research is receiving 4.2 Mio Euros from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme.

Article - 21/05/2012

Microchip facilitates bowel movements

Faecal incontinence is a common problem, but is still a strong taboo. A small microchip, implanted above the sacral bone, promises to make sufferers’ lives a lot easier. Sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) not only restores patients’ ability to control defaecation, but also provides new insights into the innervation and physiology of the bowel and the pelvic floor.

Article - 30/04/2012

BioValley Meet & Match event: "Orthopaedic Implants"

The sixth Meet & Match event was held at the International Space University in Illkirch close to Strasbourg on 29th March 2012. The meeting focused on “Orthopaedic Implants”. Science and industry representatives from the trinational BioValley gave 21 presentations focusing on a broad range of different aspects. The event was organized by the BioValley Matchmaking Team with the support of BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH.

Dossier - 26/03/2012

Nanobiotechnology

The term nanotechnology is known by well over 50 of Germans especially since the lotus effect hit the headlines in the late 1990s. Around the turn of the millennium bio was inserted between nano and technology and nanobiotechnology has since taken up more and more room in the headlines as well as requiring major financial investment. What is nanobiotechnology what is the difference between nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology and where and what…

Article - 19/03/2012

When the “second brain” fails – therapeutic options from the field of regenerative medicine

Researchers from the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine ZRM in Tübingen are focused on the enteric nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract with the aim of developing cell-based therapies for the treatment of bowel diseases. The researchers are working with local partners in a BMBF-funded project that is seeking to develop therapies for Hirschsprung’s disease.

Dossier - 12/03/2012

Regenerative medicine makes use of patients’ own resources

Regenerative medicine offers new therapeutic options for many diseases in which organ function or structure are damaged or lost. The majority of regenerative therapies involve cell-based methods that are often combined with innovative biomaterials. Regenerative therapies combine know-how from the biosciences with state-of-the-art medical technology and also benefit from progress in the engineering and material sciences.

Press release - 07/03/2012

Implant to replace defective venous valve

If heart valves don’t close properly, they are replaced. Conventional treatment of venous valve failure, however, has up to now always and exclusively been via medication. In future, an implant will assume the function of damaged valves. In close collaboration with other partners researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart developed an automated production facility that can make venous…

Article - 23/01/2012

Karen Lienkamp: intelligent surface materials fight off microbes

Resistant germs are tough and will settle anywhere. They grow on all types of surface which is a major cause for concern for medical doctors and industrial researchers alike. The chemist Dr. Karen Lienkamp Junior Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies FRIAS and head of a group of junior researchers at the University of Freiburg develops surface materials for biomedical applications and industrial production facilities.

Article - 16/01/2012

Alexander Titz: molecular design to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has become an important cause of infection, and is often picked up in hospitals, especially by patients with weakened immune systems. It can cause respiratory and urinary tract infections, as well as lead to infections on implants and wounds. P. aeruginosa lives in a gel-like matrix, a so-called biofilm that is highly resistant to antibiotics, making it very difficult to eradicate. Dr. Alexander Titz and his team at the…

Article - 09/01/2012

Parkinson’s disease – a fatal cycle of falling and rising activity in the basal ganglia

As the disease progresses Parkinsons patients find it increasingly difficult to voluntarily control body movements. The disease is associated with oscillations of electrical activity in specific brain areas known as basal ganglia. Dr. Arvind Kumar and his colleagues at the Bernstein Center Freiburg have used neuronal network simulations to develop a model to explain these rhythmic oscillations.

Article - 06/12/2011

Bridging the gap between academia and industry

Prof. Dr. Katja Schenke-Layland divides her work equally between the Stuttgart-based Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, where she is the deputy head of the Department of Cell Systems, and the University Hospital in Tübingen where she teaches and researches the use of biomaterials in the field of regenerative medicine at the Department of Thoracic, Cardiac and Vascular Surgery. By working between the two…

Press release - 30/09/2011

Blood Vessels from Your Printer

Researchers have been working at growing tissue and organs in the laboratory for a long time. These days, tissue engineering enables us to build up artificial tissue, although science still hasn’t been successful with larger organs. Now, researchers at Fraunhofer are applying new techniques and materials to come up with artificial blood vessels in their BioRap project that will be able to supply artificial tissue and maybe even complex organs in…

Article - 29/07/2011

Labor Dr. Merk und Kollegen - Viruses under control

It is difficult to imagine how Ochsenhausen-based Labor Dr. Merk und Kollegen (LMK) would be able to develop, produce and test medical products for bacterial and viral contaminations without using cell cultures. The medium-sized company also produces viruses for testing and has stored more than 80 different viruses – enveloped and non-enveloped ones, animal and human pathogens – at -80˚C.

Article - 18/07/2011

Titanium screws and stem cells for dental implants

How are we supposed to chew and smile when the tooth fairy comes to fetch our second set of teeth? When it’s difficult to tell the difference between modern tooth implants and real teeth in both technical and aesthetical terms, people who lose their teeth due to accidents or age very quickly regain their smile. However, there needs to be enough bone to hold and support the implant. Prof. Dr. Dr. Ralf Gutwald and his team in the Department of Oral…

Article - 04/07/2011

The use of regenerative biomaterials is likely to grow

Tuttlingen-based Aesculap AG is committed to using different materials including ceramics, titanium and high-performance polymers for the development and production of implants. The medical technology company has come up with a solution to prevent people from developing allergies against substances used in prostheses. Dr. Harald Stallforth, CEO Research & Development and Vice Chairman of the Aesculap AG management board talks with a BioLAGO…

Article - 04/07/2011

Synthetic tendons made from bicomponent fibres

Organs are not the only things to be transplanted. Sometimes tendons also need to be replaced. At St. Gallen-based Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), an interdisciplinary team of scientists is working on the development of synthetic tendons for surgical applications. The synthetic tendons are made of bicomponent fibres that decompose efficiently in the body after implantation.

Article - 04/07/2011

The adhesion of cells to the endothelium and to artificial surfaces

Professor Stefan W. Schneider from the Mannheim Medical Faculty is investigating the function of the vascular endothelium and its interaction with blood and tumour cells using microfluidics methods that enable him to measure the adhesion of cells to the walls of blood vessels under physiological flow conditions. As part of an interdisciplinary project, he is investigating the characteristics of wafer-thin surfaces covered with living cells, which…

Article - 04/07/2011

Orthobion GmbH: biomaterials for spinal implants

If one takes a closer look at the mechanisms involved in bone growth, it turns out that the supposedly simple issue as to how bones grow cannot be fully answered. Konstanz-based Orthobion GmbH investigates and produces targeted biomaterials for use in implants designed for the treatment of spinal column defects. The surface structures of materials and how they affect the adhesion of bones to implant surfaces are key issues in the production of…

Dossier - 04/07/2011

Implants of the future: bioactive, corrosion-resistant and antibacterial

People’s life expectancy is increasing due to constantly improving medical treatment. One result of this is the greater wear of joints, which then need to be replaced with implants. Increased life expectancy means that the implants remain in the body for much longer and therefore need to be longer lasting. The revision rate of implant materials used in clinical practice is still as much as 10 per cent, particularly in the case of hip and knee…

Article - 14/06/2011

Retinitis pigmentosa: a new form of cell death

What form of cell death do the photoreceptors of people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa undergo and how can their degeneration be prevented or delayed with pharmaceutical substances? Dr. Paquet-Durand from the Institute for Ophthalmic Research in Tübingen is working to resolve these questions.

Press release - 08/06/2011

Meet & Match Intelligent Implants

This year's second Meet & Match took place at the Hilton Hotel in Strasbourg, France on May 20, 2011. About 12 presentations were held by representatives from different companies and universities out of the trinational BioValley: Northwest Switzerland, Alsace in France and South Baden in Germany. This Meet & Match meeting has been a great success thanks to interesting talks and a very attentive audience.

Article - 06/06/2011

Knowledge transfer depends on the application of learning

The ability of scientists from different disciplines to understand each other as well as excellent communication skills play an ever-increasing role in the transfer of knowledge from academic research to industry. Vice president of research at the Konstanz University of Applied Sciences HTWG Professor Gunter Voigt explains how academia and industry work together and also highlights the conditions that are necessary for such cooperations to lead…

Article - 30/05/2011

Technology Licensing Office (TLB): invention and patent management

The Technology Licensing Office TLB works in partnership with science and industry and is continuously coming up with new ways to ensure the economic success of inventions from all the key fields of technology. Dr. Frank Schlotter head of Life Sciences at the Karlsruhe-based TLB provides insights into the work that his office does taking as examples innovations from the fields of regenerative medicine and diagnostics.