Tendon and Bone Regeneration

Bone healing disorders and implant-associated infections are still a challenge in trauma and orthopedic surgery. Local application of active substances can promote endogenous healing processes, but also prevent or treat infections. At the same time, the necessary dosage and the systemic load is reduced, but also the availability on site is improved. Our group focuses on various possibilities of local application in various indications.

The developed biodegradable coating –based on the polymer poly(D,L-lactide)- for surgical material such as implants was extensively tested in vitro and in vivo for the application of antibiotics and bone healing stimulating factors. In addition to the optimization of the coating and the release kinetics, the effectiveness and biocompatibility was investigated.

Numerous bone substitutes are available for the treatment of bony defects. Ideally, the surgeon can enrich the appropriate material with an active substance to promote healing or fight bacteria. For this purpose, we have developed a perioperative approach which allows a fast and homogeneous mixture of substitute material with active substances and intensively analyzes the release kinetics of various antibiotics in vitro. Using a bone defect model we evaluated the effectivity of a bone graft (demineralized bone matrix, DBM) enriched with the osteoinductive factor BMP-2 by µCT and histology. We investigate the efficacy and cytotoxicity of newly discovered or modified antimicrobial substances in different in vitro approaches.