The research focus of the Doctoral School BioMatInt is on the interaction between engineered materials and biological structures or tissues when they come into close contact. This topic is of immense importance in medicine due to the increased request for novel, more biologically oriented tools and materials for use in human medicine. These include minimum invasive diagnostics and therapy, targeted drug delivery as well as tissue replacement and restoration. In all these applications bio-compatible materials get into very close contact with patient cells or tissue. Challenges arising from this interaction include pathogen invasion, biofilm formation, inflammatory response, and tissue alterations due to changed chemical and mechanical environments. On the other hand, the interaction also opens a variety of promising opportunities such as biosensing and simultaneous diagnostic and therapy (theranostics). Furthermore, cell culture technologies and tissue engineering can also contribute to reduce animal testing and to enhance the reliability of diagnostic or therapeutic approaches.
The legal background and responsibility in research provides a framework of the research activities and also a research topic on its own.

Our research spans 3 levels, as shown in the graphic below:

  1. Patient cells and tissue: imaging, characterization and modelling of patient tissue and tissue culture
     
  2. Interface: characterization of biomaterial-tissue interactions, prevention of adverse effects (biofilms, pathogens), exploitation of interactions for sensing, diagnostics and therapy.
     
  3. Biomaterials: mechanical performance testing, optimization and tailoring of biomaterials