SBIR Phase II: Mimicking Metatarsophalangeal Joints Using Tailored, Ultra-Dissipative, Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers to Treat Hallux Rigidus

SBIR 第二阶段：使用定制的超耗散液晶弹性体模仿跖趾关节来治疗拇趾僵硬

• 批准号: 2242770
• 负责人: Amir Torbati
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: IMPRESSIO INC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2242770&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Mimicking; Metatarsophalangeal

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project stems from its potential to treat arthritis in joints. This research will be the first investigation into the use of liquid-crystal elastomers (LCEs) for joint repair to treat hallux rigidus. Hallux rigidus (HR) is a joint disorder at the base of the big toe affecting approximately 2.5% of people over 50 years old and roughly 2-3 million people in the US. It is the second most common condition for the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint. If successful, this LCE-based MTP joint implant would advance the standard of care in treating joint degeneration and open the way for novel uses of LCEs in the body. The unique nature of LCEs will permit devices to mimic the natural tissues in the body and provide anatomically correct support. In addition to LCE's ability to mimic the MTP joint, other potential advantages may lead to the advancement of patient-specific devices such as treatments for arthritis in other joints in the foot, hand, knee (e.g., total knee replacement), and spine (e.g., total disc replacement). Other soft tissue applications include osteochondral defects (OCD) and the repair of any load-bearing orthopedic tissue such as meniscus.The proposed project focuses on developing, verifying and validating, and commercializing an LCE-based cartilage replacement device for the MTP joint to treat hallux rigidus. LCEs have superior energy dissipation properties relative to traditional elastomers such as silicone or hydrogels. This proposal seeks to demonstrate how LCEs can be used to treat degenerated joints by combining the fields of liquid-crystal elastomers, rheology, and bioengineering. LCEs are known for their unique behavior which is similar to biological tissues. This project will be accomplished through several main research objectives to support and accelerate the research and development effort: completion of the device pilot production, verification and validation, development of surgical kits and procedures for the device, and transfer of the technology into high volume manufacturing for the commercial device launch.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目的更广泛影响源于其在关节中治疗关节炎的潜力。这项研究将是对使用液晶弹性体（LCE）进行关节修复的首次研究，以治疗Hallux rigidus。 Hallux rigidus（HR）是大脚趾底部的一种关节疾病，影响了50岁以上的2.5％，在美国大约有2-300万人。 它是MetaTapophangeal（MTP）关节的第二大最常见条件。如果成功的话，这种基于LCE的MTP关节植入物将在治疗关节变性方面提高护理标准，并为LCE在体内的新颖使用开辟道路。 LCE的独特性质将允许设备模仿体内的天然组织，并提供解剖学正确的支持。除了LCE模仿MTP关节的能力外，其他潜在优势还可能导致患者特异性设备的发展，例如脚，手，膝盖（例如，总膝盖替换）和脊柱的其他关节治疗治疗（例如，总椎间盘替换）。其他软组织的应用包括骨软骨缺陷（OCD）以及修复任何承载负载的骨科组织，例如弯月板。拟议的项目着重于开发，验证和验证和商业化基于LCE的软骨替换装置，以治疗MTP关节以治疗Hallux igidus。 LCE相对于传统弹性体（例如硅树脂或水凝胶）具有较高的能量耗散特性。该提案旨在证明如何通过结合液体晶状体弹性体，流变学和生物工程领域来使用LCE来治疗退化的关节。 LCE以其独特的行为而闻名，与生物组织相似。该项目将通过几个主要的研究目标来完成和加速研究和开发工作：完成设备试点生产，验证和验证，设备的手术工具包和程序的开发以及将技术转移到商业设备启动中的高量制造中。该奖项通过评估了概念，反映了NSF的法定任务，并反映了概念的支持。