Healthcare industry

Press release - 15/09/2009

Nose drops rather than transplantation – an alternative and complementary method to animal testing

On 14th September 2009 the physician Dr. Lusine Danielyan from Tübingen was awarded the Förderpreis Ersatz- und Ergänzungsmethoden zum Tierversuch des Landes Baden-Württemberg Prize for alternative and complementary methods to animal testing in Stuttgart. The young scientist who works in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University Hospital of Tübingen has…

Press release - 08/09/2009

Angiogenesis as a key for tissue engineering

The German Research Foundation is to fund a research priority of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Freiburg University Medical Centre. Researchers around the world working in the area of regenerative medicine are all equally hopeful of generating tissue replacements using modern tissue engineering. The development of tissue cells on carrier materials seems quite promising. However, tissue-engineered implants are often rejected by patients…

Press release - 10/08/2009

Identification of an important mechanism for the production of stem cells

Dr. Jochen Utikal, a dermatologist at Mannheim University Hospital, has made decisive progress in the use of cell replacement therapies for the treatment of degenerative diseases. Dr. Utikal succeeded in deciphering a mechanism that enables the successful creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Utikal is a chief physician in the Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Allergology (Mannheim Dermatology Excellence Centre) at Heidelberg…

Press release - 28/07/2009

New trachea made from human tissue

A team of doctors from the Schillerhöhe Hospital, which is part of the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, in cooperation with researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute of Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart, has developed a method that enables artificially produced autologous tissue to be implanted into patients with severe tracheal injuries. The method involves the cultivation of extensive parts of the human trachea and…

Article - 12/05/2009

Islet cell transplantation gives new hope to diabetics

Establishing a medical therapy requires a great deal of patience. An interdisciplinary group of researchers at the University Hospital Tübingen knows this from experience. It took more than three years before researchers succeeded in transplanting insulin-producing cells. However, the huge effort has paid off two-fold: the diabetes sufferer feels well after the intervention and secondly, Tübingen became the first German centre to receive the…

Press release - 20/04/2009

Help for coronary vessel constrictions – Tübingen cardiologists have developed an alternative to drug eluting stents

Prof. Christian Herdeg at the University Hospital of Tübingen has developed an alternative approach for intracoronary pharmacotherapy for the treatment of patients with constricted coronary vessels. Localised drug delivery using special catheters is far superior to the use of uncoated stents and is also a way of avoiding the disadvantages of coated i.e. drug eluting stents. On 16th April 2009 the new method was awarded a prize at a meeting of the…

Article - 20/04/2009

Anita Ignatius makes biomaterials smart

Anita Ignatius is not interested in knowledge just for the sake of knowledge. “I have always been interested in the practical application of knowledge,” said the 45-year-old veterinarian. Highly theoretical courses she had to attend during her studies put an end to her dreams of opening her own practice after university. But this experience also had its advantages, because it helped her realise what she really wanted – namely doing research of…

Article - 05/04/2009

JOTEC – artificial blood vessel specialist

JOTEC GmbH a medical device company based in Hechingen has a broad range of solutions on offer for the therapy of vascular diseases including artificial blood vessels and stentgrafts and is an international leader in this field. The company not only produces traditional vascular grafts from high-quality plastics but also absorbable bioartificial vascular grafts and cell-coated grafts made from biomaterials. Such an approach is currently unique in…

Press release - 01/04/2009

Miniature proteins for safe implants

Scientists at the Institute for Biological Interfaces IBG at the KIT - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have succeeded in identifying highly effective protein chains which have the potential of being used as part of an anti-inflammatory protection layer on implants.

Press release - 08/01/2009

ILM – Bioactive interfaces

It is particularly important to consider the biocompatibility of material interfaces. For example, implant materials with a surface composition that favours cell growth have a decisive advantage. However there are other cases where biophobic material characteristics might be more suitable. For example, specifically modifying the surface of surgical metals might prevent pathogens from attaching and could also make the cleaning and deactivation of…

On 20th November 2008 Tetec AG opened a new facility for the production of cartilage transplants. The company market leader and a subsidiary of B. Braun Melsungen AG based in Reutlingen is expanding its production capacities.

In principle human tracheas and porcine small intestines do not have much in common. However both have a tube-like structure. This was the basis for Dr. Thorsten Walles extraordinary idea. In collaboration with Professor Dr. Heike Mertsching he is working on the development of methods for turning the intestines into bioartificial trachea substitutes.

Dr. Carsten Mehring became the head of a junior researcher group at the Institute of Biology at the University of Freiburg just after finishing his PhD. His concept of coupling the brain to computers has been given the GO-Bio Award of the BMBF. At some stage in the future the brain-machine interface developed by Mehring and his team will enable paralysed patients to move body parts by thought power alone. Mehring is highly fascinated by the brain…

Prof. Dr. Harald Krug a toxicologist who runs the Materials-Biology Interaction division at Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research in St. Gallen Switzerland and his team are investigating the interactions of synthetic materials with biological systems. The team of 25 researchers is focusing in particular on the effect of particles and nanomaterials such as CNT on human and animal cells. The division has been an…

The NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute in Reutlingen organised its biannual MEA conference from 8 to 11 July 2008. More than 200 developers and microelectrode array users from 18 countries came together in Reutlingen to present their latest developments and results.

The new iNNOVATION fORUM of the Baden-Württemberg MicroMountains Network offered researchers and the medical device industry an intensive moderated dialogue and the chance to make new contacts and to improve their chances for future innovations.

Cochlear implants can restore hearing to many of those afflicted with deafness. Prof. Robert Illing from the University of Freiburg explores the plastic properties of the nervous system that facilitate the application of these implants.

A new surgical repair of the aorta that obviates the necessity to open the thorax and the abdominal cavity is highly suited to high-risk patients that could not previously be operated due to concomitant diseases or previous surgery.

The NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute in Reutlingen is a role model for how research findings can be turned into financially sustainable products and services. Prof. Hugo Hämmerle has been a key figure in this success story for over 20 years. In February 2008 he took over as Managing Director of the institute.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF is to finance a new Bernstein Focus on Neurotechnology at the Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen with funds totalling ten million euros. The new initiative is part of the Computational Neuroscience funding programme.

The German Parliament decided in favour of relaxing the restrictions on the import of stem cells. Martina Keller-Ullrich spoke with the pharmacologist Prof. Dr. Marcel Leist the only Baden-Württemberg scientist authorised to carry out research involving embryonic stem cells.

Almost half of the veins transplanted to restore blood flow in the heart become clogged again within ten years after surgery. Gene therapy pre-treatment of the vein fragments that prevents the muscle cells from entering the vascular wall might decrease the risk of this happening.

The first European Conference for Clinical Nanomedicine is to be held soon in Basel. BIOPRO has therefore discussed this promising area of application with Beat Löffler and Dr. Patrick Hunziker the founders of the European Foundation for Clinical Nanomedicine.

Is there a slight chance that patients suffering from Retinitis pigmentosa or even from age-related macular degeneration might be able to regain their vision? A microchip implanted beneath the retina might at least give such patients the ability to make out the outlines of objects.

The Centre for Regenerative Biology and Medicine ZRM in Tübingen has joined forces with Naturin GmbH based in Weinheim. The partners plan to develop new carrier materials on the basis of collagen which improve cell cultures and medical implants.