ANA-MARIA TRUNFIO-SFARGHIU LaMCoS INSA de Lyon
ana-maria.sfarghiu@nullinsa-lyon.fr
in partnership with
. IMBL : Institut Multidisciplinaire de Biochimie des Lipides
Member of
. ICS : Institut Charles Sadron
Member of
The complexity of the osteoarticular pathologies means that there is at present no really efficacious treatment, except for an implant (arthroplasty). In this respect, in 2013, about 130000 knee implants were performed in France, which cost the medical insurance approximately 500 milions of euros. However, despite the current international trend to develop new materials for arthroplasty, their lifespan in vivo still proves very disappointing compared to those extrapolated from the ex vivo simulations. This discrepancy is mainly due to the insufficiently objective ex vivo test conditions with respect to the mechanical, physical and chemical features of the biological environment.
Therefore, the first objective of this project is to understand and to manage the mechanical and physicochemical interactions between the biological environment (particularly the lubricant) and the joint implant surfaces. This will be essential for the second objective of the project: to design less disabling prosthetic solutions compared with the total joint replacement, by developing a controlled hydrophilic polymer matrix to obtain an artificial meniscus and to optimize the lubricating properties by a proper coupling of the lipid assemblies to this material. Consequently, the project is structured in three stages.
The first two involve the combining of biochemical, physicochemical, mechanical and tribological properties in order to understand and predict the friction coefficient and the lifetime of the implants. The results of these analyses will be used to design an artificial meniscus which will be able to reproduce the healthy bio-tribology, the ultimate goal being to obtain biomimetic materials and bio-lubricants so as to avoid total knee arthroplasty.
CCI LYON, VIBRATECH, THALES, AREVA, VOLVO, RENAULT, MICHELIN, ANNEALSYS, HUTCHINSON, EDF R&D ENERBAT, riber, SKF, EDF, PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN, SAFRAN, CARA, ST MICROELECTRONICS, SEB, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, ...