Annually, 12–18 million surgeries for dentals implants and over two millions surgeries for bone grafting are performed. Titanium (Ti) implant (dental) and autograft (bone harvested from the patient for bone substitute) are the gold standard. However, the use of Ti can lead to implant rejection, allergies and release of Ti particles. Autografts are associated with pain, scarring, blood loss, and donor-site morbidity. Therefore, there is a need for new biomaterials. Within UNIBIO, new implant will be developed. The idea is to combine materials science, photonic and biology to engineer new implant, with high mechanical properties and loaded with stem cells to favor early cell recruitment. The scaffold will emit light at wavelength leading to early cell differentiation. The outcome will be a scaffold that promotes faster bone reconstruction without eliciting inflammation or releasing any allergen, therefore limiting health-care cost.

2020

2024