Healthcare industry

Article - 03/04/2019

HKK Bionics empowers hand gripping functions

A spin-off from the Ulm University of Applied Sciences is aiming to provide people whose hands have been paralysed due to accident or illness with a new kind of orthopaedic aid. Dominik Hepp and Tobias Knobloch are currently starting serial production of a hand orthosis prototype. The two medical engineers from Ulm, who founded HKK Bionics GmbH in 2017, plan to commence final tests in 2019.

Press release - 28/01/2019

5,5 millions for project on smart matrices for knee cartilage repair

A research project in cartilage regeneration, in which the Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics at Ulm University participates together with partners from eight european countries, was recently financed by the European Commission with 5.5 million Euro. Named RESTORE, the project aims to create 3D matrices incorporating smart nanomaterials to repair knee cartilage lesions thereby reducing or delaying the onset of osteoarthritis,…

Article - 28/09/2017

Textile implant as herniated disc repair kit

Repairing herniated discs is a clinical need that has still not been met. When the discomfort becomes unbearable, surgery can be performed and the intervertebral disc is generally removed. However, this can further reduce the patients’ quality of life. Scientists at DITF, in cooperation with the Spanish company NEOS Surgery S.L., have developed a textile-based device for treating herniated discs. The device is a minimally invasive “repair kit”…

Article - 20/04/2017

Health app to be integrated into clinical trials

Questionnaires are a thing of the past, now it is becoming increasingly likely that information for clinical trials will be collected via apps in the future. A new research platform has been developed to prepare patient data transmitted via smartphone applications. Doctors who are carrying out research will thus have access to more accurate results that will also ultimately benefit patients.

Article - 22/11/2016

Research on the durability and longevity of artificial joints

In Germany alone, several hundred thousand patients are given an artificial hip, knee or shoulder joint every year. Prof. Dr. Jan Philippe Kretzer and his team of researchers in the Laboratory of Biomechanics and Implant Research at the University Hospital in Heidelberg are studying what limits the longevity of implants and how durability can be improved.

Article - 23/06/2016

The body’s immune system loosens artificial joints

Hip and knee endoprostheses are not nearly as long-lasting as their natural counterparts. Dr. Ulrike Dapunt from the University Hospital Heidelberg’s Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology has now discovered that it is not the bacterial activity or secretions that lead to the degradation of bone during chronic inflammation, but rather local host defence mechanisms.

Article - 25/01/2016

And yet another biological from Biberach

Boehringer Ingelheim is an important contract manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals that also produces proprietary drugs. We spoke with Dr. Joanne van Ryn, a Canadian pharmacologist who has been doing research at Boehringer Ingelheim’s company site in Biberach for over 20 years. Her research focuses on thrombosis, haemostasis and coagulation. She is involved in the scientific monitoring of dabigatran (Pradaxa), an oral anticoagulant that, in 2008,…

Article - 04/03/2013

Nano-design inspired by nature enables cells to interact with implants

Eye implants that communicate with living cells have the potential to spare many patients from having to undergo further eye surgery or laser treatment. However, Christian Lingenfelder, managing director of Dornstadt-based Alamedics, believes that it will take at least five to seven years for the idea to become reality and a medical product placed on the market. Alamedics, which was founded in 2012, has already made an important initial step in…

Article - 19/11/2012

Biopharm GmbH: growth factors for use in regenerative medicine

With more than 26 years’ experience in the field of orthopaedics, dermatology and personalised medicine, the Heidelberg-based biotechnology company Biopharm GmbH is firmly established in the regenerative medicine market. Based on its proprietary growth factor technology platform, Biopharm develops innovative methods for the treatment of bone and cartilage damage and improvement of the wound healing process.

Article - 15/10/2012

Nobel Prize for the reprogramming of cells

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 was awarded jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent, i.e. immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. This finding is of revolutionary importance for the field of medicine.

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 - 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.

Article - 25/07/2011

Silke Brüderlein has “green fingers” for cell cultures

Many researchers in the biosciences work with cell cultures, but not all of them seem to understand them at a deeper level. The biologist Silke Brüderlein from the Institute of Pathology in Ulm is a specialist in cell culture and is well aware of the problems that might arise when working with cell cultures.

Article - 25/07/2011

Cell culturing as a taught subject: many more “Biberachs” are needed

Cell culture technology is only taught at a handful of universities. However, this interdisciplinary subject is the core of the “Pharmaceutical Biotechnology” programme offered by the Biberach University of Applied Sciences. We talked about the subject with Professor Jürgen Hannemann, founding dean of the “Pharmaceutical Biotechnology” programme, and with Professor Friedemann Hesse, who runs the “cell culture technology” teaching programme.

Article - 10/04/2011

Wilhelm Aicher is committed to regenerative medicine research

Laboratory-based regeneration of human cartilage and muscle tissue is his strong suit: Prof. Dr. Wilhelm K. Aicher brings his expertise in cellular and molecular biology to research focusing on the development of innovative therapies for the treatment of tissue damage. Successes such as a knee cartilage made from autologous (patients’ own) cells show that Aicher is on the right track.

Article - 21/03/2011

Fluoron – a company that is well underway

Fluoron is a company that takes close contact with customers very seriously. This is why Christian Lingenfelder and his team frequently pack their suitcases to travel from place to place visiting Russian or Chinese operating theatres. Thousands of kilometres from the company’s production site in Ulm, the Fluoron team exchanges information with the retina surgeons for whom the company develops and produces highly pure biomaterials for use in…

Press release - 22/11/2010

Minimally invasive transplantation of cartilage cells into the hip joint

The Orthopaedic & Traumatic Surgery Centre at the Mannheim Medical Centre is coordinating two studies on the proliferation and transplantation of cartilage cells. Artificial cartilage cells have been transplanted into a patient’s defective hip joint in a minimally invasive intervention.

Press release - 04/09/2010

Improved durability of artificial hip joints

The only way to determine minimal abrasion such as that which occurs between the two metal surfaces of an artificial hip joint with high levels of precision is to use a new test method. Dr. Jan Philippe Kretzer from the Department of Orthopaedics at the University Hospital Heidelberg developed a new test system and was awarded the German Arthritis Foundation Science Prize.

Article - 15/04/2010

Bone-hard basic research for an ageing society

Osteoporotic bones not only break very easily, they also heal badly when a fracture occurs. A fractured femur neck might mean that elderly patients have to remain bedridden for a long period and maybe even need nursing care. Fractures that heal badly, in combination with other diseases, frequently lead to a fatal outcome. A panregional team of researchers, including researchers from Ulm, has been working together since 2007 on basic research into…

Article - 12/04/2010

Biomotion Solutions: Simulating active people in motion

Biomotion Solutions is a spin-off of the University of Tübingen that creates simulations of the human body in motion. The young company’s clients are as varied as its applications, including car manufacturers, sportswear manufacturers, veterinarians and physicians as well as horse breeders and the police.

Article - 14/05/2009

A multicentred approach for the treatment and prevention of diabetes

In order to counteract the increase in the number of diabetics it is necessary to take into account the entire psychosocial environment of the patients states Prof. Dr. Peter Nawroth a physician from Heidelberg University Hospital. The prevention of late complications must be a major goal of any treatment and patient consultation. By focusing on the development and investigation of the RAGE-dependent reaction system Nawroth and his team have…

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…

During his doctorate Dr Rüdiger Rupp from the University of Heidelberg developed neuroprostheses that can be controlled with weak muscle tension or even with thought power. Rupp was awarded the Konrad Biesalski Prize of 5000.

A new Clinical Research Unit at the University of Ulm is to investigate the early inflammation response and the positive impact on the immune system in casualty injuries. The insights gained will be transferred to patients.

Results obtained by scientists at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University Hospital of Heidelberg show that in contrast to previous assumptions the tumour necrosis factor alpha TNF-alpha has no influence on pain and mobility.