Jan 29, 2021 - InterLynk, a new research and innovation EU project, has just started with the aim to radically transform the design and fabrication of complex 3D biofunctional constructs for multi-tissue regeneration. Last Friday Jan 22, InterLynk partners officially kicked off this ambitious enterprise, which is expected to demonstrate the potential of innovative regenerative solutions in the total replacement of the dissimilar weight-bearing tissues composing the temporomandibular joint.

Diseases or trauma injuries can severely damage a part of the body, and sometimes the only or the best way to tackle the problem is to replace or reconstruct it.
Musculoskeletal (or Osteoarticular) systems in the body are made of complex architectures and interplay of multiple connective tissues including hard (as bone), soft (as for example cartilage) and fibrous (as ligaments and tendons) tissues with dissimilar mechanical and biological features.

The repair or reconstruction of such anatomical structures is really complex because their diverse interconnected tissues, and the transitional zones among them, may have very different and specific requirements.
Many interventional strategies, in these cases, are based on the use of scaffolds to provide suitable mechanical support and/or stimuli for tissue-regeneration. However, these approaches still present serious challenges related to the mechanical performance, structural precision, bioactivity and biocompatibility of the scaffolds, as well as to their fabrication, especially as far as the reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint is concerned.
Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, the InterLynk project gathers 8 European partners, including 3 universities, 1 research&technology organization and 4 SMEs, aiming to provide innovative regenerative solutions for the successful repair and regeneration of complex multi-tissue systems, in primis the temporomandibular joint.
InterLynk approach is disruptive because, for the first time, it will synergistically address three key aspects related to the development of successful scaffolds for multi-tissue regeneration, providing: (i) new biomaterials able to construct a multimaterial scaffold, (ii) upgraded manufacturing technologies to fabricate them and (iii) a multidimensional computational toolbox to model material properties, processing conditions and scaffold performance.

InterLynk partners will develop a portfolio of different biomaterials and biomaterial-based inks, all based on an innovative, highly bioactivity and biocompatible matrix made of human plasma-derivative platelet lysates, that can be patient-specific.
They will combine the most advanced technologies to develop 3D bioprinting processes able to integrate different biomaterials in a same scaffold, and spatially control their organization and distribution. This will allow the fabrication of multimaterial 3D scaffolds mimicking the microenvironment interfaces needed to promote the new formation of different tissues like bone, cartilage, ligament and tendon.
InterLynk partners will also develop new computational tools to support the design and mechanobiological optimization of all biomaterials, inks and final products. Eventually, they will be able to simulate the features and behaviour of not only the medical device, but also of the heterogeneous patient’s tissues it will be embedded in.
A transdisciplinary team with expertise in materials science, additive manufacturing systems, manufacturing process modelling, computational biomechanics, tissue engineering, biology and regenerative medicine, will collaborate in this ambitious 4-year project. Project partners are from 4 EU countries: Portugal, Germany, Netherlands and Italy.

With an overall budget of almost 6 million euros and coordinated by the University of Aveiro, under the leadership of João F. Mano, from CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, the InterLynk consortium will expand the frontiers of 3D printing, and personalized and regenerative medicine.

The clinical case of temporomandibular joint replacement
Although InterLynk medical solutions will be suitable for all types of clinical cases requiring the repair of damaged or diseased multi-tissue structures, project partners intend to primarily demonstrate their application in the replacement of the temporomandibular joint. Why?
Acting like a sliding hinge, the temporomandibular joints connect the jawbone to the skull. They work as pivot points for mandible movements and they are essential for chewing, speaking and much more.
Due to the peculiar joint mechanics and anatomic constrains, if compromised, they indeed represent a particularly challenging articular case. A number of conditions may cause the degeneration of these complex structures: tumors, osteoarthritis, trauma injuries, and others. And in most severe cases, the effects are highly disabling.
No regenerative solution is still commercially available, as current intervention are mostly based on the use of metal prosthesis.
Recent advances and developments in the understanding of joint mechanics, in material science and 3D printing technologies have paved the way to the development of innovative and more effective approaches. This is the goal of InterLynk efforts.