PRosPERoS-II

ongoing

South of the Netherlands and Flanders are demographically similar areas. Both are ageing areas with relatively many elderly people who live longer, move less and develop overweight and increasingly joint wear. 3D-printed personalised and smart implants & orthoses When joints are severely worn out or damaged, in many cases the only solution is to replace the joint (partly) with an implant. In addition, there are also young people who suffer from musculoskeletal disorders. Joint replacement implants are rarely an option here. Instead, orthoses are used; externally worn devices to correct position abnormalities or abnormal mobility of joints or of the spine. Following PRosPERoS (2016-2020), Prosperos-II continues its trajectory and aims to develop new patient-specific implants and orthoses that have a long lifespan and accelerate and improve the healing and rehabilitation process. In addition to hip and spine, it now also wants to extend the focus to ankle, shoulder and trauma. The project uses advanced research in the field of 3D printing, surface functionality and new biomedical materials. In this way, it is better to predict how implants will eventually behave in the body. The project also aims to conduct research on slowing the development of osteoarthosis and speeding up the healing of bone defects.

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