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The city of Göteborg, on the west coast of Sweden, boasts one of Europe’s finest clusters for life science and biomedicine. As the site of numerous breakthroughs in research and development within medicine, the city has become a leading cluster in biomaterials and cell therapy. The key to Göteborg’s strength is its combination of high-calibre academic research capabilities and a well-established industrial base.
STRONG RESEARCH TRADITION
Göteborg has an excellent record of achievement within the biomedical field. Among its pioneers are Prof Arvid Carlsson, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his research into dopamine, Prof Per-Ingvar Brånemark, who introduced osseointegration as a method for attaching prostheses directly into bone, and Prof Jan Lindhe, who, through his research of the biological mechanisms within the mouth, has developed both understanding of and treatments for diseases that lead to tooth decay.
Biomaterials research at the University of Gothenburg and at Chalmers University of Technology has resulted in more than 150 doctoral dissertations over the years. Two of these are by the noted Professors Tomas Albrektsson and Peter Thomsen. Prof Albrektsson was instrumental in the development of the first bone-anchored dental implant system and the first boneanchored hearing aid implant system. Prof Thomsen focuses on the interface between material surfaces and cells using modern methods in cell and molecular biology.
Dental implants are an accepted treatment for patients with missing teeth all over the world, and more than eight million people have so far received them. The global dental implant market is valued at over €12 billion annually, and is still growing, due to the revolutionary research of scientists such as Professors Brånemark and Albrektsson.
New materials and modification and characterisation of materials are other Göteborg specialities. Professor of Polymer Technology, Per Flodin of Chalmers and co-workers developed the slowly biodegradable polyurethanurea, a material later manufactured by Artimplant for orthopaedic and dental applications. Today, Artimplant is a public company located in Göteborg offering degradable implants for regeneration of body functions.
Another world-leading researcher is Prof Bengt Kasemo at Chalmers, whose work focuses on nano-scale surface phenomena and properties. Prof Kasemo and coworkers developed a unique method for surface analysis – the QCMD-technology. Today, this technology is marketed and sold to the biomaterial community by another Göteborg-based company, Q-Sense. Since 1999, when the first commercial system for measurements in liquid was launched, Q-Sense has become the leading supplier of acoustic resonator-based instruments for analysis of various surfaces. |
