The Hydrostatic high-pressure technology offers the possibility to devitalize tissue of any origin quickly and gently without having a negative impact on its structural properties. The Hydrostatic high-pressure technology is intended to enable the treatment of tissue defects with allogeneic graft tissue and to be used to create new perspectives for the preparation of human allografts from supporting (bone, cartilage) and connective tissue (fascia). In the field of regenerative medicine, this would be a real advance over current methods. To this end, the technology platform is to be expanded to include a rinsing system in order to gently and efficiently remove cell and tissue residues from the devitalized tissue after HHD treatment and subsequently use it as a structurally and biomechanically stable allograft transplant.
In the HOGEMA joint project, the first task is to comprehensively characterize tissue material after processing, both in cell culture and in animal studies, in order to test its suitability for later clinical application. (Regulatory boundary conditions that play a role in the approval of such tissues are not taken into account.) In addition, the project should enable the provision of devitalised tissue for the development and establishment of physiologically similar model systems, which will subsequently be used instead of animal models for a variety of questions in basic research.
The task of the Wismar University of Applied Sciences in the joint project is the constructive implementation of the developed rinsing chamber principles in a design and functional model, taking into account function and material-related influences as well as design criteria suitable for production. In addition to the redesign after a functional test with the partners, this also includes the production of the functional models with the inclusion of additive manufacturing methods and the necessary drive, regulation and control elements. Further work includes the technical control of the functional models before testing in the test environment, the constructive design of a technical prototype that is as automated as possible, suitable for series production and works with one-way inserts, and finally the validation of the functionality and suitability for series production of the (further developed) prototype.
In the project, Wismar University of Applied Sciences is cooperating closely with the University of Rostock, Department of Mechanical Engineering, in the constructive implementation of the rinsing chamber principles (integration of cleaning phases and tissue removal as well as transfer of regulation and control elements into the prototype design), with the Fraunhofer Institute IZI (material selection for components of the rinsing chamber with regard to biological requirements), and with the clinical partners (with regard to questions of use and application of the prototype).
