UCAM researchers Camilo Zamora-Ledezma, Vicente Manuel Gómez and Jeevithan Elango are participating in the European Cool&SmartTit project, funded by the European Union with a budget of €571,830 through the ERA-MIN3 2023 call for proposals. The project aims to create biocompatible and sustainable metallic materials for the manufacture of bone prostheses such as hips, femurs and dental pins.

The UCAM team will work in collaboration with institutions in Romania and Bulgaria to develop new titanium alloys combined with elements such as molybdenum, niobium and tin over the next three years. The goal is to develop at least six metallic compounds that are biocompatible, suitable for individualised medical use and environmentally sustainable.

The developed materials will be more biocompatible than those currently available, potentially shortening postoperative processes after implantation and reducing the likelihood of patient rejection. The project also seeks to improve the physicochemical properties of the materials, making them more durable and resistant to corrosion by body fluids.

Preclinical in vitro studies with mesenchymal stem cells will be performed with the developed materials throughout the project, to subsequently initiate clinical research in humans with the selected material.

Partners: Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași (coordinator), Romania, Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (Spain), National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection (Romania) and University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (Bulgaria).