BGF IMPLANT

As part of its Medical Technology Action Plan, the BMBF is funding 12 projects focusing on "Intelligent Implants". The funding measure is part of the ICT 2020 programme and comprises eight application-oriented collaborative projects and four projects with primarily scientific focuses.
The medical indications and development priorities of the collaborative projects vary. However, since they are all concerned with the development of intelligent implants, the collaborative projects face similar, in some cases even common, innovation hurdles. The accompanying research brings together the interests of the collaborative partners, promotes the use of synergies, carries out active knowledge transfer and communicates the project results from the thematic focus to the health care and medical technology sectors. This bundling creates better framework conditions that individual alliances or project partners cannot achieve or can only achieve with greater effort.

The main tasks lie in:
- the provision and support of a platform for the pre-competitive solution of common scientific and technical problems and the overcoming of market-specific hurdles,
- the presentation of the medical and economic significance of implant technology for healthcare and the medical technology industry in Germany,
- the establishment of successful communication with medical users, medical societies, payers and health policy makers
- the safeguarding of innovation activities by imparting knowledge about current and future standards, approval procedures and reimbursement options in the German health care system.

A wiki-based "Technology Navigator" is being set up as an information pool for joint scientific and technical issues.

In the subproject "Functional long-term stability", the NMI is in charge of the work packages "Biocompatibility and functionalisation of surfaces" and "Functional long-term stability in the biological environment".
The thematic objectives are achieved through moderation and technical support of topics in the four modules Cooperation, Knowledge Transfer, Communication and Networking. First, the relevant topics within the joint projects and their requirements for intelligent implants will be classified, the state of the art will be worked out and the innovation hurdles will be determined. Project meetings are organized and moderated on selected topics. At the end, method diagrams and procedures are available in the Technology Navigator. The partners of the collaborative projects are given technical support in solving specific problems.