TissueMaps · Elemental imaging of human tissue: clinical therapy support and development of new diagnostics
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-06-01 → 2020-05-31
- EU contribution
- €157,288
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-CAR
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Elemental imaging of human tissue: clinical therapy support and development of new diagnostics
TissueMaps is as a multidisciplinary project of Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) and University Medical Centre Maribor (UKC MB) with the aim of improving the diagnostic techniques available at hospitals to study prosthesis failures. Improved living conditions, better health systems and medical innovation have contributed to increased life expectancy in developed countries. Among medical treatments, hip replacements have become a widely used solution. Worldwide, approximately one million hip replacements take place every year representing a financial burden on health systems. Degradation of hip prostheses results in the release of debris and metallic particles into the surrounding tissue, possibly causing inflammation and prosthesis loosening. Despite hip prosthesis complications due to degradation are relatively frequent, there is no complete understanding of the processes driving this degradation. Techniques currently applied in hospitals, such as X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or optical tissue microscopies are not able to provide the chemical picture (i.e. content of elements such as Titanium, Aluminium, Vanadium or Zirconium released by the prosthesis) of the surrounding tissue. We use a broad spectrum of advanced microscopy techniques to map elements released by prosthesis into the body, among which Proton-Induced X-ray Emission with focused high-energy proton beam (micro-PIXE) is the main technique. This project incorporates novel cutting-edge diagnostic tools to study the complex mechanism of dispersion of metallic particles from the prosthesis into the human tissue and the potential link with prosthesis failures and complications. So far, the development and testing procedures of hip prosthesis have been carried out almost exclusively by the orthopaedic industry. Our work will allow for independent research in this field contributing to a better understanding of the processes involved in prosthesis failures and rejections.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Population in developed countries is aging. Besides other socioeconomic effects, this significantly affects European health systems, as ageing-specific therapies and treatments have become important cost factors. In this context, hip replacements belong to one of the most frequent and costly treatments. Recent reports on mass failures of new types of hip prosthesis revealed insufficient understanding of physiological processes leading to prosthesis failure. Studies on hip prosthesis failures revealed complex processes leading to chemical degradation of implants, resulting in desorbed elements and ions entering the surrounding tissue, causing inflammation and loosening of hip prosthesis. The research needed to reveal important details of the body response to the implant is lacking of the incorporation of novel techniques and approaches.Techniques currently applied in hospitals, such as X-ray scans and optical tissue microscopies do not fully explain the effects of implants on the body physiology. Moreover, the screening of new types of implants before its introduction into clinic processes may lack of scientific understanding of possible destructive effects. Modern tissue microscopy techniques are promising providing elemental and chemical distribution of a tissue, with high sensitivities and lateral resolution. Micro Proton Induced X-ray Emission (microPIXE) allows determining the quantitative elemental mapping of a tissue and has been proved to be the best technique for element localization studies in biological tissues due to its capability of analysing at sub-cellular level the distribution of elements incorporated to biological tissue, due to a high sensitivity ranging down to 0.1 ppm level.The action will focus on investigating reasons of failures and rejections of hip replacements by application of advanced elemental microscopies to human tissue surrounding hip failures. Results may determine the origin of failure and avoid prosthesis rejection.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN · LjubljanaCoordinatorSlovenia
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union