TRR 298:  Safety Integrated and Infection Reactive Implants

• Subject Area: Materials Science and Engineering ; Biology ; Chemistry ; Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering ; Medicine ; Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Term: since 2021
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426335750

With the CRC/Transregio 298 “Safety-Integrated and Infection-Reactive Implants” (SIIRI), we implemented a fundamentally new research approach to implant innovation via the synergistic and integrative collaboration across medicine, engineering, natural, and social sciences. Implants are inserted after organ and tissue loss due to tumor, trauma or inflammation and are of considerable importance for the restoration of fundamental and, in some cases, life-sustaining functions. Despite advances in implant technology, implant failure remains a major clinical challenge, often requiring high-risk revision surgery. This pervasive occurrence of implant-related complications across various medical disciplines represents one of the most pressing challenges in modern medicine, and the lack of effective therapeutic strategies underscores the urgent need for innovative research approaches. SIIRI addresses this need by introducing, for the first time, safety-relevant concepts from engineering sciences into the development of innovative implant systems for musculoskeletal, dental and otological applications. The aim is to develop safety-integrated systems that enable continuous monitoring for early detection of implant complications and targeted reaction to restore the initial implant function. In the first funding period, the CRC yielded critical insights into key pathophysiological, functional, and technical mechanisms underlying implant failure. Substantial progress was made in pioneering cellular, chemical, and physical systems for the detection of implant complications and innovative reaction systems to promote technical or biological regeneration. Social science frameworks have been integrated to define safety-relevant communication dynamics for sustainable implant safety. The second funding period will focus on the integration of detection and reaction systems and on autoregulative concepts, paving the way for innovative medical implants with sensor-actuator functionality. Advanced in vitro, in vivo, and in silico models will be tailored to implant- and patient-specific conditions, thereby driving progress toward precision medicine. Data from the implant analysis pipeline, detection systems, and patient cohorts will feed into a Digital Implant Lifecycle Management (DILM) system, which provides a groundbreaking digital infrastructure for personalized monitoring, data-driven prediction, risk profile calculation to support clinical decision-making, and the informed design of next-generation implant systems. With the CRC SIIRI, an internationally visible research hub for smart, safety-integrated implants has been established. Beyond advancing fundamental implant research and driving clinical innovation, the CRC will foster a new generation of highly qualified interdisciplinarily trained scientists. The far-reaching concept of interdisciplinary implant research in this CRC will propel medical innovation, thereby ensuring long-term implant and patient safety.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios

Current projects

• A01 - Implant safety through individualisation of revision and regeneration of primary prosthetic components (Project Heads Denkena, Berend ;  Dittrich, Marc-André ;  Ettinger, Max ;  Tücking, Lars-René ;  Wichmann, Marcel )
• A03 - New diagnostic methods to detect loosened hip arthroplasties (Project Heads Behrens, Bernd-Arno ;  Jakubowitz, Eike ;  Zimmermann, Stefan )
• A04 - Demand-oriented design and manufacture of damage-tolerant implant junctions (Project Heads Bergmann, Benjamin ;  Denkena, Berend ;  Hurschler, Christof ;  Krödel-Worbes, Alexander ;  Prasanthan, Vannila ;  Sehmisch, Stephan )
• A05 - Sensory cochlea electrode: Sensory safety through detection of critical processes at the electrode-nerve interface (Project Heads Lenarz, Thomas ;  Maier, Hans Jürgen ;  Prenzler, Nils Kristian )
• A06 - Detection of cell occupation on cochlear implants and implant position for atraumatic insertion and long-term monitoring of stimulation efficiency (Project Heads Kral, Andrej ;  Maier, Ph.D., Hannes ;  Zimmermann, Stefan )
• A07 - Surrogate-modelling for monitoring of implants (Project Heads Aldakheel, Fadi ;  Budde, Stefan ;  Haertlé, Marco ;  Nackenhorst, Udo ;  Nogueira, Waldo )
• A08 - Tissue-conserving hip and knee arthroplasty removal (Project Heads Nürnberger, Florian ;  Windhagen, Henning )
• A09 - Deciphering the role of wear particles in cellular and molecular interactions during aseptic implant loosening in biomimetic 3D in vitro models (Project Heads Hoffmann, Andrea ;  Lee-Thedieck, Cornelia )
• B01 - Autonomous chemical and cell-based sensor-actuator systems for the detection and combat of implant-associated infections (Project Heads Menzel, Henning ;  Stiesch, Meike ;  Wirth, Dagmar )
• B02 - Uncovering of molecular mechanisms involved in biofilm-associated peri-implant infections (Project Heads Häußler, Susanne ;  Li, Yang ;  Stiesch, Meike )
• B03 - Optical sensors for responsive implants (Project Heads Bahnemann, Janina ;  Heisterkamp, Alexander ;  Nikutta, Katharina ;  Scheper, Thomas )
• B04 - Active stimulus-responsive implants (Project Heads Klose, Christian ;  Maier, Hans Jürgen ;  Pott, Philipp-Cornelius ;  Wurz, Marc Christopher )
• B06 - Tracking and localised therapy of inflammation and infections on surfaces of established implants (Project Head Wirth, Dagmar )
• B07 - Simulation of biofilm growth and drug-induced degradation (Project Heads Junker, Philipp ;  Soleimani, Meisam ;  Szafranski, Szymon Piotr ;  Wriggers, Peter )
• B08 - Implant coating facilitating an intentional implant removal (Project Heads Menzel, Henning ;  Polarz, Sebastian ;  Weinhart, Marie )
• B09 - Phototheranostic materials for sustainable and multimodal implant protection (Project Heads Gellrich, Nils-Claudius ;  Korn, Philippe ;  Polarz, Sebastian )
• INF - Research data management for safety-integrated and infection-reactive implants (Project Heads Auer, Sören ;  Karras, Oliver )
• Z01 - Trust and patient-centred communication as determinants of implant acceptance and compliance with advanced implant treatment (Project Heads Baumann, Eva ;  Klimmt, Christoph ;  Link, Ph.D., Elena )
• Z02 - Integrated research training group (IRTG) “Implant Technologies” (Project Heads Melk, Ph.D., Anette ;  Wurz, Marc Christopher )
• Z03 - Central Task (Project Head Stiesch, Meike )

Completed projects

• A02 - Mechanisms of implant failure during aseptic loosening of hip endoprostheses (Project Heads Hoffmann, Andrea ;  Melk, Ph.D., Anette ;  Stukenborg-Colsman, Christina )
• B05 - Autonomous sequential drug release systems (Project Heads Behrens, Peter ;  Gellrich, Nils-Claudius ;  Polarz, Sebastian )

• Applicant Institution: Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
• Co-Applicant Institution: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
• Participating University: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover ; Institut für Journalistik und Kommunikationsforschung; Universität Augsburg; Institut für Physik; Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz; Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften, Medien und Sport; Institut für Publizistik; Technische Universität Braunschweig; Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften; Institut für Technische Chemie
• Participating Institution: Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH ; Arbeitsgruppe Modellsysteme für Infektion und Immunität; Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Meike Stiesch