Self-Cleaning Nano-Engineered Implants towards Enhanced Soft-Tissue Integration

Project description

Poor soft-tissue integration and bacterial infection are the leading causes of dental implant failure. To address this challenge, nano-engineering of Ti/Zr implants using anodization has been performed to enhance bioactivity and enable local therapy. However, such systems have limitations: (1) initial burst release causing cytotoxicity, (2) inability to decontaminate site, and (3) early consumption of therapeutics can retrigger infection.
This project addresses these challenges via:

AIM 1. Fabricating nanopores on dental implants via electrochemical anodization.
Dental implants (Ti/Zr) will be anodized to fabricate TiO2/ZrO2 nanopores. Modified implants will be characterized using SEM, AFM, water-contact angle (WCA) and nanoindentation. A potent antibiotic will be loaded inside the nanopores and its local release in vitro will be evaluated.

AIM 2. Modify drug loaded implants with stimuli-responsive polymeric brushes.
Surface Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerisation (SIATRP) will be utilized to grow stimuli responsive polymer brushes on drug loaded implants, which will be characterized via SEM and AFM. Next, attenuated transmission infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) and XPS will be performed.

AIM 3. Analyse soft-tissue integration and antibacterial functions.
3D co-culture of gingival fibroblasts (GFs) and oral epithelial cells (ECs) will be established based on an oral mucosa model. The culture medium will be aspirated and various implants inserted into the middle of the gel, perpendicularly through the epithelial layer (one per gel). Next, live/dead and proliferation assays, gene-expression and immunocytochemistry analyses will be performed. Characterization of cell spread morphology will be determined via confocal imaging.
Antibacterial efficacy will be tested by culturing P. gingivalis on various implants. Samples will be placed in a 24-well plate and cultured in an anaerobic chamber. Antibacterial effects will be evaluated by bacterial colony counts, morphology by SEM and live/dead assay, proliferation rate by crystal violet staining, and bacteria copy number changes by genomic DNA qPCR and 16S rRNA sequencing.

Outcomes

1. Superior and controlled therapeutic performance of conventional dental/orthopaedic implants will significantly improve treatment outcomes and ensure long-term success, especially in compromised patient conditions.
2. Project outcomes will be disseminated as high-impact journal publications and conference presentations. The preliminary data will enable applying for various national and international research grants, which will ensure project continues beyond the PhD.
3. The PhD will strengthen the existing collaborative ties between IIT-D and UQ and will continue the unique exchange of research expertise.

Essential capabilities

Knowledge of biomedical implants; prior research experience working in a chemistry lab; cell biology, microbiology

Desireable capabilities

Materials science, metals, polymers; surface modification and characterization of metals and polymers

Expected qualifications (Course/Degrees etc.)

Bachelors Engineering in biotechnology, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering; and Masters Engineering in biotechnology, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering

Additional information for applicants

note: i-students must have own scholarship to apply (CSIR, UCG-NET, etc)

Candidate Discipline

Nanotechnology biomedical engineering implants polymers.