Development of indication-specific implant materials for the osteoporotic bone on the basis of strontium-modified calcium phosphate bone cements

• Applicant: Dr. Anja Lode
• Subject Area: Biomaterials
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 449121904

As part of the SFB Transregio 79, the applicants have worked over 9 (8+1) years on novel calcium phosphate bone cements (CPC) for the treatment of defects in systemically diseased bones. One focus was the development of strontium-modified CPC, with which both the formation of new bone tissue can be stimulated locally and the osteoclast degradation can be limited. As part of the transfer project that has now been applied for, implant materials are to be developed together with an application partner and based on the most promising results from TRR 79, which can be used for human treatment and meet specific needs in the clinic.Three main goals are pursued: In the first topic block, new application forms for strontium-modified CPC are to be investigated. It should first be considered to what extent strontium-CPC particles suspended in rapidly degradable calcium sulphate pastes are suitable as materials for bone defect filling. The aim of this is to address the problem that CPC can only be degraded slowly due to the lack of macro-pores that are initially accessible to cells and that material remodeling often does not take place completely. In addition, the problem of slow cement setting when applying larger volumes should be solved by mixing the CPC paste with aqueous setting solutions during implantation, so that cement hardening can begin immediately and in volume and is not limited through the diffusion of aqueous media from the defect edges. The second focus of the investigation concerns the modification of CPC with biologically active components such as protein solutions and their influence on the setting behaviour and generally the physicochemical properties of the CPC. The third thematic block is to determine which strontium content in the CPC produces the best biological effects and up to which maximum concentration this can be increased before the favourable material properties are adversely affected.The combination of all three main research areas should make it possible to develop biomaterial compositions, modifications and application forms so that tailored strontium CPC variants can be derived for a number of clinical applications.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants (Transfer Project)
• Application Partner: INNOTERE GmbH
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Michael Gelinsky