After decades of research and disappointments using conventional polymers as medical implants, nanocelluloses are advancing from fundamental research to becoming an exciting alternative implant material. Our Matrix Reservoir Technology for the shaping of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a powerful tool for designing biomimetic surfaces, and layered and channelled three-dimensional structured bodies. The choice of the matrix material (glass, steel, synthetic polymers) is a crucial design parameter. Non-modified BNC samples and prototypes containing channels (channel diameter of 0.1mm and larger) were produced and tested in cell cultures and sheep studies. The results surpassed our expectations: BNC implants (fleeces, patches, tubes, coated structures) were effectively colonized. So we found chondrocytes and fibroblasts not only on the surfaces but also within the layer and channel structures and endothelial cells on the blood-contacting surfaces. This remarkable bioactivity, and the biomimetic characteristic confirm the high potential of BNC as medical implant material.

Why nanocelluloses as medical implants? An innovative approach for an unsolved problem

245th National Meeting (2013)

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