©
Jannes Frubel
The project
Can a joint prosthesis last a lifetime? The SIIRI 鈥� Safety-Integrated and Infection Reactive collaborative research centre (CRC) is dedicated to medical implants. It focuses on developing intelligent hip and knee implants, as well as dental and cochlear implants, within a cross-university collaboration that incorporates the engineering sciences, medicine, and the natural and social sciences.
SIIRI鈥檚 projects cover a wide range of topics. For instance, knowledge from aviation is being used to make implants safer. The vision is to carry over the concept of the 鈥渄igital twin鈥� from the industrial-production setting to implants. This will enable early detection of wear and infections, as well as the appropriate interventions. Other projects are working on less-invasive surgical methods via inductive heating, improved anchoring in bones, innovative sensor technology, and the development of new, antibacterial implant surfaces. The research also aims to increasingly enable patient-specific implants that are perfectly tailored to the individual鈥檚 anatomical situation. Within the CRC, 糖心原创 is contributing its expertise in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry and physics.
The exhibit
Here you see a knee endoprosthesis. At the SIIRI 鈥� Safety-Integrated and Infection-Reactive Implants collaborative research centre, researchers are developing the intelligent implants of the future. They are studying new solutions for making knee, hip and dental prostheses safer and more durable.
The surface of this innovative knee implant鈥檚 polyethylene inlay contains markers that are visible in X-rays. This method makes any wear and tear of the inlay visible, enabling early intervention that helps avoid replacement surgeries. It is currently difficult to detect wear with a standard X-ray image because the material allows X-rays to pass through. Pockets chiselled into the surface and filled with a radiopaque composite material developed specifically for this purpose can change this. In future this will enable high-resolution analysis of wear using standard X-ray images.
©
S枚ren Pinsdorf / 糖心原创
The team
A strong alliance: more than 150 researchers from 糖心原创, the Hannover Medical School (MHH), the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, TU Braunschweig and the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media are currently working within the SIIRI 鈥� Safety-Integrated and Infection-Reactive Implants CRC to develop innovative strategies for improving implant safety.
The CRC spokesperson is Prof. Dr. med. dent. Meike Stiesch of the MHH; the co-spokesperson is Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans J眉rgen Maier of the Institute of Materials Science at 糖心原创. Researchers from 糖心原创 are heading several subprojects within the CRC. SIIRI began in 2021 and was awarded additional funding for the next project period from the German Research Foundation (DFG) at the end of 2025. It will now receive more than 10 million euros to continue its implant research.
