An Overview of UWEB (University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials) Research
Buddy D. Ratner, Ph.D., Director
UWEB focuses on today’s medical implants. These implants are responsible for a substantial part of a $100B+ medical device industry. UWEB endeavors to improve the performance and safety of current biomaterials used in medical devices.
UWEB is comprised of professors, students, technical staff and industry companies who are members of the UWEB consortium. UWEB researchers are divided into three thrusts: materials and surfaces, basic biology and clinical and healing sciences. The basic biology discoveries on healing and inflammation from thrust two are translated into materials concepts in thrust one and then delivered for in vivo testing in thrust three.
Medical devices are implanted into millions of people each year and largely, lives are saved or the quality of life is improved. But challenges still exist. Here are examples illustrating some problems we still have with implanted medical devices:
- A small diameter vascular graft used to repair a leg artery occludes with clot necessitating limb amputation.
- A tissue heart valve, after 10 years of good service, begins to mineralize and fail.
- A coronary artery stent induces a thickening of the walls of this tiny artery.
- A hip joint prosthesis, after 12 years allows a patient 12 years of good mobility, but it then begins to loosen.
UWEB endeavors to improve the performance and safety of current biomaterials used in medical devices.
There are some ideas that are central to UWEB:
- Create “biomaterials that heal”.
- Exploit (engineer with) the macrophage and other cells involved in healing.
- Inhibit non-specific “surface fouling” – encourage specific reactions.
- Biomaterials should deliver specific biological signals with high signal to noise.
- Discover the biological processes to turn on, and off key processes in healing.
- Sophisticated surface modification can enhance today’s medical devices.
- Manufacturable strategies are essential – we must work with the industry for success.
- Students must be trained for the real world.
- A diverse student population and workforce provides a richness of ideas.