MICROPLAITE

The MICROPLAITE project aims to develop an innovative fluidic platform to accelerate the development of medical devices for tissue reconstruction and to validate some of their properties, such as antimicrobial activity and biosafety. This unique platform will recreate the microenvironment of natural tissues, thereby reducing the use of animals for in vivo testing. 

Project objectives:

The MICROPLAITE project will capitalise on unique capabilities in micro/meso-fluidic engineering and biomaterials science in the field of tissue regeneration. It aims is to miniaturise an innovative device for cell growth and analysis that is likely to offer significant gains in terms of precision and flexibility of implementation. This system, which is intended to be more widely used than conventional protocols, represents a major technological advance. It will also help make these therapeutic solutions more widely available.  

• What needs does this project address?

The increase in chronic diseases, cancer and trauma is driving the need for therapeutic solutions for tissue reconstruction (over 6% growth in the last 10 years in the European market for bone graft substitutes alone).

• Why develop such a project in the France-Walloon-Flanders region?

The MICROPLAITE project aims to develop an innovative platform to facilitate access to tissue reconstruction treatments for people suffering from soft tissue defects. These are mainly caused by cancer, diabetes, burns or accidents. These events are particularly prevalent in the France-Walloon-Flanders Interreg zone.

● In Wallonia and Flanders, the incidence of soft tissue and bone cancers exceeds the European average. The Hauts-de-France region has the highest rate in France.

● According to the Burns Foundation, it is estimated that nearly 120,000 people suffer burns in Belgium, more than half of them children under the age of 5. The Hauts-de-France region has the highest rate in mainland France.

● 2% of the population of Hauts-de-France and 6.6% of the Belgian population have been diagnosed with diabetes. Among the complications, soft tissue lesions, particularly those linked to the ‘diabetic foot’, particularly affect these patients. In 21% of cases, these lesions lead to amputation.

Faced with these different problems, the shared ambition is to facilitate faster access and provide new, better-targeted cell regeneration therapies.

Start date : October 1st, 2024 

Duration : 4 years

Budget : €2.8m