biocompatibility

Chitosan, a versatile biopolymer derived from chitin, is already a well-established player in pharmaceuticals, medicine, cosmetics, and environmental applications. But things get even more interesting when chitosan joins forces with another powerful compound: caffeine. While it might sound like the base of a high-energy supplement, this combination is in fact a promising area of research – with applications reaching far beyond the food industry.

Orthopedic infections can be treated with antibiotic-loaded bone cements. However, due to the growing number of resistances, new formulations are needed to e.g. improve the drug release. For this reason, dual-antibiotic bone cement containing chitosan and chitosan oligosaccharide was prepared in the presented study.

Biological assessment or testing of the biocompatibility of medical devices is an essential part of conformity assessment. But how do I properly and efficiently assess the biocompatibility of my medical device? The FDA has published new recommendations for assessing the biocompatibility of medical devices.

The development of a strong bond between implant surface and the surrounding bone substance, called osseointegration is important for successful integration of a dental implant. The coating of dental implants with chitosan is a promising approach to enable an accelerated and improved integration. In the following, we present two publications about chitosan-based coatings for dental implants.

On April, 25 2012 the “Forschungskuratorium Textil e.V”. newsletter reported about the results of the development cooperation of Heppe Medical Chitosan GmbH (HMC+) and the Institute of textile machinery and high performance material technology (ITM) at the Technical University of Dresden. The joint development is very promising regarding the solution of various pharmaceutical problems especially in the field of regenerative medicine.

Chitosan is employed in many domains. Besides medical areas like e.g. as support in wound healing or in tissue engineering chitosan can also be applied in the fields of food technology and water management. Thanks to scientists of the faculty of Microsystems Technic at the Univesity of Stuttgart, chitosan might soon become part of biocompatible fuel cells.

Tissue engineering is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field of research focused on the development of vital autologous tissue through the use of a combination of biomaterials, cells, and bioactive molecules, for the purposes of repairing damaged or diseased tissue and organs. The future tissue engineering market potential has been estimated at 70 billion Euro. Due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability, together with its specific interactions with components of the extracellular matrix and growth factors, chitosan has emerged as exceptionally promising material for various tissue engineering applications, including skin, nerve, bone, and cartilage repair applications.