Welcome to the Schwenningen Campus of Furtwangen University.
The TriMaBone Interreg project aims to create
new 3D-printable bone substitute materials
which allow customised applications for the patient.
To do so, a bone replacement material
based on chitosan is being developed by a work group consisting of
the University of Haute-Alsace, the University of Koblenz,
the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
and Furtwangen University.
A frequent problem with bone defects is, especially in the dental field,
that the body cannot fill defects or gaps beyond a certain size by itself.
In these cases the defect must be filled with a bone substitute material
which stimulates the body to form new bone.
Ideally, this material degrades over time
and is replaced by the body's own bone.
These are called bioresorbable materials.
However, the shape depends on the cause of the defect,
for example, due to an accident or a surgical intervention.
Commonly used prefabricated implants are quite uniform and
must first be adapted to the defect in question,
which is inconvenient for the patient.
This is where 3D printing comes in,
as it allows the implant to be customised precisely
making it easier for the patient.
The focus of our project is on modifying chitosan
to make it suitable for 3D printing,
since it is not yet possible to 3D-print chitosan.
Why chitosan?
On the one hand, because of its properties:
it is antibacterial,
biocompatible (well accepted by the body) and,
as mentioned at the beginning, is bioresorbable.
On the other hand, because it can also be produced in the quantities needed
to meet the annual demand for bone substitute materials.