The Mission of our project
4NanoEARDRUM is designed to accomplish inclusive and sustainable research and innovation. Means are available for maximising ethically sustainable tests to obtain all the obtainable data in vitro, in silico and ex vivo, thus paving the way to future responsible preclinical studies.
Owing to its peculiar anatomy and function, the optimal restoration of damaged tympanic membrane (TM) must take into account several features on the nanoscale level, which in this body setting more than in others, can be decisive for an optimal performance within an infectious and chronically inflamed microenvironment (e.g. due to otitis media chronica). To date, none nanotech manufacture is applied to eardrum reconstruction, but rather auto/allografts from other tissues (unspecific) are used, which renders this project highly innovative and original. Through an incremental approach, 4NanoEARDRUM is aimed at synergising different nanotechnologies for an optimal eardrum restoration, including acoustic, regenerative, and pathologic cues, to achieve a durable and effective performance in implanted patients. A biomimetic TM scaffold will be designed and fabricated, with features on the nano/microscale all the way to accomplish its full function (regenerative, anti-infective, immunomodulatory, oto-compatible and acousto-mechanical) thanks to the cooperation of academic and health experts in otology, biomaterials engineering, microbiology, nanotechnology, biofabrication, mechano-acoustics and bioacoustics, as well as industrial partners of the nano-biotech.
An anisotropic TM scaffold with radial and circular nanofibres based on a biodegradable polymer/chitin nanofibril (CN) composite will be fabricated via electrospinning and additive manufacturing. CNs are chosen for their immunomodulatory and antibacterial properties. Antibiotic loaded and molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (NPs) will be prepared with tailored release profiles. Modelling will be used through the project.
The new device will be “4 times” “nano”, as it will comprise nanofibres, nanofibrils, NPs, and accomplish nanoscale vibration, as well as it will be “for” “nano”, thus meaning for enabling exploitable nanotechnologies in otologic surgery, with improved reliability and reduced costs for the National Health System.