Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering

Development of new technologies for use in biomedical engineering

© Fraunhofer ITEM, Ulrich Froriep

The development of innovative inhalation technologies has always been a priority at Fraunhofer ITEM. The current focus of research is on the development of novel technologies for administration of therapeutic aerosols towards smart drug/device combination products. In addition, Fraunhofer ITEM researchers explore the field of additive manufacturing of individualized implants, for example from medical-grade silicone rubber. In order to allow the long-term durability of such implants to be evaluated, they develop novel test methods tailored to specific requirements. Besides testing of the osseointegration of orthopedic implants, this includes the testing of active implants in particular, such as evaluation of the long-term performance of neural implants. Another research topic are in-vitro and in-vivo systems for toxicity and biocompatibility testing as well as test systems for functional implants, including ones with anti-infective or anti-fibrotic effects.

Next Generation Risk Assessment

For the assessment of medical device safety, the researchers use the new concept of next-generation risk assessment. With this approach, they use modeling parameters that allow them to avoid laboratory experiments and animal testing in particular. They employ methods that are used primarily for risk assessment of industrial chemicals, such as TTC, read-across and QSAR. This approach is all the more relevant in view of the current regulatory requirements for medical devices: The earlier the regulatory strategy is established, the less problematic the performance of the necessary conformity assessment and the shorter the time to market. A comprehensive database of requirements and materials for optimized (re)certification of medical devices is being set up.

Medical device development: recent projects and highlights

 

Personalized finger joint implants

The FingerKIt consortium is developing individually adapted joint implants manufactured by 3D printing based on AI.

 

Project MDOT

In this EU project we develop a platform to support companies with their conformity assessment of medical devices, with a focus on inhalation, neural implant and orthopedic implant technologies.

Innovation for preterm neonates

Development of a system that optically detects neonatal breathing and releases the aerosol directly at the patient interface in a breath-triggered manner. 

 

Press release / 3.6.2022

RNAuto project

Fraunhofer develops automated production technologies for mRNA-based drugs. 

 

REMEDIA project

The REMEDIA project is aimed at determining how and to what extent the exposome influences the severity and morbidity of pulmonary diseases throughout the course of these diseases.

Center for Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering

The High-Performance Center launched in March 2021 provides a platform for research and transfer of innovations into patient care.

 

RealWorld4Clinic

The collection of cardiorespiratory data in real-life clinical practice by means of a multi-sensor system is aimed at achieving a substantial improvement in drug development and patient care.

Project archive

Here you can find more projects sorted by our research and development competences. 

Publications

  • Abdulbaki, A., Doll, T., Helgers, S., Heissler, H. E., Voges, J., Krauss, J. K., Schwabe, K., Alam, M. (2023). Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Restores Motor and Sensorimotor Cortical Neuronal Oscillatory Activity in the Free-Moving 6-Hydroxydopamine Lesion Rat Parkinson Model. Neuromodulation [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1016/j.neurom.2023.01.014 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1094715923000235?via%3Dihub
  • Aksu, M., Kumar, P., Guttler, T., Taxer, W., Gregor, K., Mussil, B., Rymarenko, O., Stegmann, K. M., Dickmanns, A., Gerber, S., Reineking, W., Schulz, C., Henneck, T., Mohamed, A., Pohlmann, G., Ramazanoglu, M., Mese, K., Gross, U., Ben-Yedidia, T., Ovadia, O., Fischer, D. W., Kamensky, M., Reichman, A., Baumgartner, W., von Kockritz-Blickwede, M., Dobbelstein, M., Gorlich, D. (2024). Nanobodies to multiple spike variants and inhalation of nanobody-containing aerosols neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture and hamsters. Antiviral Research 221: 105778. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2023.105778 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354223002565?via%3Dihub  - Open Access
  • Nguyen, M. H., Onken, A., Wulff, A., Foremny, K., Torgau, P., Schutte, H., Hild, S., Doll, T. (2023). Computational Modeling of Diffusion-Based Delamination for Active Implantable Medical Devices. Bioengineering (Basel) 10(5). doi: 10.3390/bioengineering10050625 https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/10/5/625  - Open Access
  • Weissfuss, C., Wienhold, S. M., Burkle, M., Gaborieau, B., Bushe, J., Behrendt, U., Bischoff, R., Korf, I. H. E., Wienecke, S., Dannheim, A., Ziehr, H., Rohde, C., Gruber, A. D., Ricard, J. D., Debarbieux, L., Witzenrath, M., Nouailles, G. (2023). Repetitive Exposure to Bacteriophage Cocktails against Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Escherichia coli Provokes Marginal Humoral Immunity in Naive Mice. Viruses 15(2). doi: 10.3390/v15020387 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/2/387 - Open Access
  • Willy, C., Bugert, J. J., Classen, A. Y., Deng, L., Duchting, A., Gross, J., Hammerl, J. A., Korf, I. H. E., Kuhn, C., Lieberknecht-Jouy, S., Rohde, C., Rupp, M., Vehreschild, M., Vogele, K., Wienecke, S., Witzenrath, M., Wurstle, S., Ziehr, H., Moelling, K., Broecker, F. (2023). Phage Therapy in Germany-Update 2023. Viruses 15(2). doi: 10.3390/v15020588 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/2/588 - Open Access
  • Wittmann, J., Bunk, B., Korf, I., Wienecke, S., Spröer, C. (2023). Therapie-Phagen: Voraussetzung für die Anwendung geschaffen. Biospektrum 29(2): 222-222. doi: 10.1007/s12268-023-1917-8 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12268-023-1917-8.pdf - Open Access