Bo Van Durme

Chronic otitis media refers to a group of complex infectious and inflammatory diseases of the middle ear, causing permanent tympanic membrane perforations and conductive hearing impairment. Tympanoplasty and myringoplasty are commonly used surgeries to eradicate the disease and to reconstruct the eardrum. However, both strategies are associated with drawbacks including recurrent perforations, high capital investment, time-consuming quality control and limited availability of autologous graft tissue. A possible solution to address these issues is offered by the field of tissue engineering (TE). Although significant progress has been realized, there remain shortcomings related to current TE approaches including the lack of sufficient tympanic native tissue mimicry in terms of mechanical and morphological complexity. 
The aim of current research project includes the development of photo-crosslinkable and ‘clickable’ polymers, able to function as a bio-ink for 3D-printing purposes.  Furthermore, the project will focus on elucidation of the structural and mechanical properties of the 3D-printed eardrums in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo. 
 

• Lab address: Department of Organic and Macromolecular chemistry, Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials (PBM) Group, Ghent University - Campus Sterre, S4, Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Ghent
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• Bo Van Durme is interested to receive invitations for talks or presentations