Functional Tissue Replacement and Substitution: Platform Grant

Our research in functional tissue replacement and substitution addresses both major societal needs and global economic opportunities. It impacts upon a spectrum of medical interventions from functional biomaterials and devices to tissue engineered constructs. It primarily focuses on degenerative deficiencies and ageing in the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, by converging physical and biological sciences and technologies to address national and international opportunities. In particular it addresses the major societal needs of the functional ageing population, which has an increased retirement age, extended working life and increased longevity, by providing devices and therapeutic interventions to sustain mobility and relieve pain. Our research addresses increased patient expectation for earlier intervention, rapid rehabilitation, increased functional demand and personalized solutions.This will be delivered though research and development of devices and therapies that enable tissue preservation and regenerative capacity and more rapid restoration of natural biomechanical function. It will apply recent advances in biological sciences and nanoscale technologies, integrating this multidisciplinary science through a systems engineering approach to new technology discovery and product innovation.The program of research will build upon our previous research in wear of joint replacements in the hip and knee, in which we have researched and developed new materials and designs to provide longer lasting joints for young and active patients. It will address new approaches to partial joint replacement, cartilage substitution and tissue engineering, which have the potential to provide earlier intervention, tissue sparing and minimally invasive surgical therapies. It will also address functional tissue substitution in the spine, through bone preserving and augmentation therapies and new articulating implants and disc replacements. Particularly important in the spine is the development of functional simulation systems to replicate in the laboratory and in computer models the complex structure and function found in vivo. In the cardiovascular system novel biomimetic tissue scaffolds, which provide functional tissue regeneration solutions for blood vessels and heart valves, will be researched, through laboratory and clinical models.