NICK BEIJER: At RIVM we develop new methods to assess implant safety.
We do this based on the complaints patients get...
and in a human relevant In vitro model.
VOICE OVER: Every year, millions of people around the world...
receive medical implants as a treatment.
Implants greatly differ, such as large joint replacements...
silicone breast implants and mesh-materials.
In most patients, the function of damaged tissues or organs...
is successfully restored.
But in some patients, complications...
such as pain due to excessive fibrosis, do occur.
NICK BEIJER: Before an implant reaches the clinic, it is thoroughly tested on safety.
This is mainly done in tests based on the chemical nature of the material.
But more recently we have learned that also the mechanical forces...
play a significant role in the host response.
That is why we want to update the current testing strategies...
by also including these mechanical forces...
and by this resembling the interface...
between the biomaterial and the patient better.
And have an animal-free method to mimic the host response.
VOICE OVER: RIVM is working on two parallel lines of research to achieve this.
Which involve both studying human tissues and setting up cell-based systems.
NICK BEIJER: Firstly, we want to understand...
what causes the adverse effects in patients.
For this, we examine explanted materials from patients who developed complaints.
This is a bit of the biomaterial with the surrounding tissue together...
and we analyse this using histopathology, transcriptomics or proteomics for example.
Secondly, we have developed an in vitro model of direct cell-biomaterial interaction...
in which cells are exposed to chemical as well as mechanical forces at the same time.
By doing this, the cells cannot only experience...
the chemical nature of the material...
but at the same time also its surface structure, its stiffness...
as well as its shape and size.
In this way we can assess more relevant biomaterial properties at the same time...
and check their influence on the host response
VOICE OVER: By combining insights from implant-tissue histopathology...
with current knowledge from the literature...
an Adverse Outcome Pathway or AOP network will be constructed.
NICK BEIJER: We use the AOP as a guide to highlight mechanisms...
to be targeted in the direct-interaction in vitro model.
By looking at these key events in the in the in vitro model...
we will be able to describe the host response more accurately...
and in this way improve implant safety on the long term.