Expected Impacts
Giotto Context
Nowadays, in the EU one person experiences an osteoporotic fracture every 30 seconds and with the current demographic shift the incidence is expected to double in few decades. In fact, osteoporosis is a very common bone disease appearing more frequently with aging, but it can occur also at younger age. It occurs when the body loses too much bone, as a result bones become weak and brittle: so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses can cause a fracture. Osteoporotic bone breaks are most likely to occur in the hip, spine or wrist, but other bones can also break. Breaking a bone causes permanent pain and, when osteoporosis affects vertebrae, it can lead to a stooped or hunched posture.
The contribution of GIOTTO to the expected impacts from the topic NMBP-22-2018 will be:
Alleviate heavy burdens on patients and healthcare systems by developing smart nano-engineered affordable biomaterials for tissue self-healing and regeneration; improve the well-being, health, quality of life and active ageing of populations
Boost industrial competitiveness and leadership of EU companies in personalised bio-intelligent materials responding to patients’ clinical specificities
Enhanced incorporation of digitalisation and Internet of Things for innovative and affordable biomaterials
Increase EU attractiveness for the clinical development of regenerative medicine
Reinforce the EU sector ecosystem to generate new markets and opportunities for SMEs, translating innovative biomaterials into pre-clinical tests for market uptake