Bone Regeneration and Biomimetic Materials
The group “Bone Regeneration and Biomimetic Materials” was lead by Manjubala Inderchand. The research was focussed on two different approaches on similar themes of bone and tissue regeneration.
The first aim of the group was to understand the processes underlying new bone tissue formation in-vitro both by physical and biological approaches. A biomaterial scaffold was used as a template to analyse the behaviour of the pre-osteoblastic bone cells to produce new bone-like tissue. Rapid prototyping was used to produce scaffolds with controlled architecture: ceramic scaffolds were produced by resin moulds and polymer based composite scaffolds were produced by wax moulds. The three dimensional growth via osteoblast cells in pore channels of the scaffolds was analysed. The influence of various factors such as shape and size of the pore channel in the scaffold and also the influence of the scaffold property such as stiffness on the regulation and growth of extra cellular matrix by the cells was studied. Some of these research directions are being continued from a more theoretical point of view in the research group Biomimetic Actuation and Tissue Growth.
The second aim of the group was to acquire more knowledge about the properties of the tissues formed during bone healing process which could lead to understand the mechano-regulation of the biological process during fracture healing, by the application of our multi-method approach. Further this multi-method approach was applied to study the quality of the bone material in bone biopsies related to bone diseases and their treatment. The project of fracture healing started in 2007 within the framework of the special research centre (Sonderforschungbereich (SFB) 760) focussed in Berlin. Furthermore, the changes occurring in bone material quality with respect to disease and their treatment was studied in close collaboration with the researchers at Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Osteology in Vienna, Austria. Some of these research directions are being continued in the department by the group Hierarchical structure of biological and biomimetic materials
Manjubala Inderchand is now Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Division of the School of Bio Sciences and Technology at VIT University in Chennai, India.