Catarina Coelho holds a BSc in biochemistry and an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Porto. Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering and a researcher at FLUIDINOVA, Catarina has over nine years of experience in working with nano-hydroxyapatite and other calcium phosphate materials. She is working to develop innovative solutions for bone regeneration using the nanoXIM hydroxyapatite.

What has it meant for Fluidinova to enter this project? How did the collaboration come about?

For FLUIDINOVA, participating in the INKplant project is a great opportunity to explore the use of our nano-hydroxyapatite products in 3D printing. We are specialized manufacturers of synthetic nano-hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate materials and our current activity is to provide these materials to companies that operate in the industries of medical devices, oral care, and food. Specifically, in the medical area, FLUIDINOVA supplies several medical devices companies with nano-hydroxyapatite for the development of different implants for bone regeneration. We believe that 3D printing will be the future for the manufacture of these types of medical devices and we hope that FLUIDINOVA can play a role in it. This will allow us to increase our product portfolio and unlock additional markets. Our collaboration in INKplant started with an invitation by Profactor to participate in the project since FLUIDINOVA is a reference in the hydroxyapatite market.

One of the objectives of INKplant is to evolve Fluidinova's synthetic bone material to be able to 3D print it and manufacture implants. How do you plan to achieve it?

The nano-hydroxyapatite products developed by FLUIDINOVA are produced in our patented reactor NETmix. This reactor allows us to have not only a very precise control of the reaction but also to perform several customizations in our materials. Therefore, we can tune different properties in our nano-hydroxyapatite products to make them suitable for 3D printing applications. To achieve this, FLUIDINOVA is working in close collaboration with Profactor. As 3D printing specialists, their input is crucial to determine the direction of our research.

What are Fluidinova's most important lines of research at the moment?

FLUIDINOVA has different R&D projects going on, especially in the field of bone regeneration. One of our main research goals at the moment is to explore the use of our nano-hydroxyapatite products for 3D printing applications. In our opinion, 3D printing will become a mainstream technology for medical devices production and we truly believe that our materials can be valuable for the manufacture of 3D printed implants for bone regeneration.

To what extent can your products help improve the quality of life of Europeans? What future can be expected in the area in which you operate?

The incidence of bone disorders is increasing every year and one of the main reasons is the population aging. There is a growing demand for medical devices able to treat these conditions, particularly implants for tissue regeneration. Nowadays, most bone grafting procedures still use bone from human and animal origins, but the market is progressively shifting for synthetic alternatives that are safer, unlimited, and have the possibility of being custom-made. Therefore, the calcium phosphate products developed by FLUIDINOVA perfectly fit this market tendency and society's need. Our nano-hydroxyapatite products are fully synthetic and have superior performance in bone regeneration when compared to traditional micro-sized materials. Having more effective solutions will improve the quality of life of the patients, especially with 3D printing and the possibility of creating patient-specific implants. We are committed to supply our calcium phosphates to medical devices companies and contribute to the presence of new alternative bone implants in the market.