The Germany-based start-up MEDOVENT has devised a proprietary technology to process chitin and chitosan as biomaterials for medical applications.The company, founded in summer 2006 by CEO Thomas Freier and CTO Rivelino Montenegro, develops stents, nerve guides and coatings made of chitosan. “After many years of research with different biomaterials in the medical field, we have realized that chitosan has a special set of properties where its bioactivity, bacteriostatic, antiadhesive and hydrogel nature can make an ideal implant for nerve reconstruction as well as in other medical applications,” Montenegro explained. He said that the processing technique allows them to preserve the intrinsic bioactive properties of chitin and chitosan and to manufacture products with mechanical properties similar to many synthetic biodegradable polymers.Their currently most important product is the Reaxon Nerve Guide which is used to bridge peripheral nerve defects protecting the growing nerve against undesirable external influences. Because of its hydrogel properties it facilitates the transport of nutrients and oxygen. While autologous nerve grafts [nerves taken from a donor] have become the gold standard for nerve reconstruction, the procedure is associated with a number of disadvantages, according to Montenegro. “These include the need for an additional operation to harvest a donor nerve, which leads to a loss of function in the region of excised tissue. In addition to this, due to the biological origin and the quality of the donor tissue the efficiency of the nerve healing may vary greatly, so that faulty sensor functions or uncontrolled muscle contractions can occur as a result of inadequate nerve regeneration,” he said.According to the company, their product can be used to replace autografts sparing the patients from the undesired results of an extra surgery and saving time and money for the health system. In addition to obviating a second surgery, the special properties of chitosan, such as transparency, long-term collapse stability, bioactivity, anti-scarring and antibacterial properties make it a viable alternative for current materials, as Montenegro points out. “One of the main problems with existing products is the rapid loss of mechanical strength, associated with the collapse of the conduits before completion of the healing process, resulting in nerve compression,” he claims. “Previously used materials have no anti-scarring properties, thereby not limiting fibrotic scar formation hampering neural repair.”According to the company, roughly 3% of all trauma patients suffer a peripheral nerve injury, which by some estimates could mean a market of $1.32 to $1.93 billion dollar per year in the U.S. alone for the repair of transected peripheral nerves.