Research

Research Groups

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The Chair of Medical Materials and Implants (MMI) is following different strategies to combine a technical component, which provides structural stability, with a biological one to obtain living tissue/organs that recapitulate the mechanical and biological functions of the healthy equivalents. Classical tissue engineering strategies will be implemented as well as approaches based on recent paradigm shifts, which exploit the body’s immune reaction to an initially cell-free implant towards a healing process. This so-called in situ tissue engineering harvests the capability of the body to colonize a properly designed implant and remodel it into a healthy tissue. To this end, the starting material, the microarchitecture and the mechanical properties of the implants are of key importance to steer the host reaction away from a chronic inflammation. The new research area profits from recent advancements in fields such as (stem) cell biology, genomics, proteomics, biomaterials development, bioreactors and biofabrication technologies. To foster clinical adaption, MMI is also working on various automation strategies to ensure reproducibility and enable high-throughput applications. The overall research interests of MMI can be summarized in several areas of expertise as shortly presented here: