Projekt (BMBF): ForMAT-Cardio
Projekt (BMBF): ForMAT-Cardio
BMBF project
Force-sensitive biomaterials as the basis for long-term cardiovascular implants (ForMAT-Cardio)
Project partners
- NanoScale Systems GmbH (Coordinator)
- Heart and Diabetes Centre NRW, Bad Oeynhausen
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Anhui Daqian Bio-Engineering Co. Ltd, Anhui, China
Summary
Diseases of the cardiovascular system are the most common cause of death in Germany. Heart failure in particular is associated with a high rate of re-hospitalisation and mortality as well as high costs for the healthcare system.
Effective treatment approaches require therapy management based on continuous monitoring of meaningful cardiovascular parameters. In heart failure, this is the LVEDP (Left Ventricular End Diastolic Pressure), the blood pressure in the left ventricle. It is known that with continuous monitoring of LVEDP, existing therapeutic measures can be used more effectively. A deterioration in the patient's health can be recognised and treated before the first symptoms appear. This telemedical care of patients is able to mitigate the course of heart failure and significantly reduce treatment costs. However, continuous monitoring of LVEDP is not feasible with current technological possibilities.
The aim of the ForMAT-Cardio project is to develop novel pressure- and force-sensitive biomaterials that form the actual basis for the development of long-term stable implants for monitoring LVEDP, for example. The focus is on the use of innovative nanosensor technology for research into pressure- and force-sensitive biomaterials based on biocompatible materials that are approved for medical technology applications, in particular polymers and metals. The nanosensor technology to be developed in the project, for example, with its very low energy requirements and small sensor size, has the right properties for research into novel force- and pressure-sensitive biomaterials for use in long-term implants.
The ForMAT-Cardio project aims to evaluate the performance of the novel biomaterials for the development of miniaturised and thus biocompatible long-term implants in the form of a technical demonstrator. In the medium and long term, innovative, minimally invasive long-term implants with high performance can be made available for different therapeutic approaches for telemedical monitoring.