FLUIDINOVA develops R&D projects in collaboration with scientific institutes, companies and costumers.
Currently, our main fields of interest are:
Injectable bone substitutes
Granules and scaffolds for bone regeneration
Biomaterials functionalization
Enamel remineralization
Dental hypersensitivity
Research & Development plays an important role on FLUIDINOVA’s business strategy, helping to provide customers state-of-the-art products.
Therefore, through the years FLUIDINOVA has been involved in several collaborative R&D projects with different European partners as:
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2023-12-31
Funded by: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 953134 - H2020-NMBP-TR-IND-2020-twostage. Topic: NMBP-21-2020 - Biological scaffolds for tissue regeneration and repair (RIA). Programmes: H2020-EU.2.1.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced materials and H2020-EU.2.1.2. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Nanotechnologies.
Consortium Partners: 19 Participants.
Objective:
Improving the life quality of Europe’s increasingly elderly population is one of the most pressing challenges our society faces today. The need to treat age-related degenerative changes in e.g. articular joints or dental implants will boost the market opportunities for tissue regeneration products like biological scaffolds. State of the art 3D printing technologies can provide biocompatible implants with the right macroscopic shape to fit a patient-specific tissue defect. However, for a real functionality, there is a need for new biomaterials, technologies and processes that additionally allow the fabrication of a scaffold microstructure that induces tissue-specific regeneration. It is not possible to address the complexity in structure and properties of human tissues with a single material or fabrication technique. Besides, there are many types of tissue in the human body, each with their own internal structures and functions. INKplant vision is the fusion/combination of different biomaterials (6 different inks), high-resolution, high throughput additive manufacturing technologies already proved for industrial processes (ceramic sterolithography and 3D multimaterial inkjet printing), and advanced simulation and biological evaluation, to bring a new concept for the design and fabrication of biomimetic scaffolds (3D printed patient specific resorbable cell-free implants) which can address the complexity of the different tissue in the human body, demonstrated for 2 Use Cases. For a successful future translation, INKplant will consider all the relevant clinical adoption criteria already at the beginning of the development process. To address INKplant challenging objective the consortium includes the best expertise from the main areas of relevance to the project: biomaterials, 3D printing technology, tissue engineering, regulatory bodies and social humanities.
Start date: 2020-06-01
End date: 2024-05-31
Funded by: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 862583 - call H2020-NMBP-TO-IND-2019. Topic: DT-NMBP-08-2019 - Real-time nano-characterisation technologies (RIA). Programmes: H2020-EU.2.1.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced materials and H2020-EU.2.1.2. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Nanotechnologies.
Consortium Partners: 14 Participants.
Objective:
Nano-scaled materials are abundant in different stages of industrial manufacturing. Physical and chemical properties of these materials are strongly dependent on their size. Characterisation of mean size, size distribution, and shape of nano-scaled particles is very critical for the quality and efficiency of manufacturing processes. Yet, conventional characterisation technologies still show manifold shortcomings which represent a major innovation obstacle for manufacturers of nanoparticles. The NanoPAT consortium aims at closing this gap by the demonstration of 3 novel, real-time nano-characterisation Process Analytical Technologies (PAT), namely Photon Density Wave spectroscopy (PDW), OptoFluidic force induction (OF2i) and Turbidity spectrometry (TUS) including real-time data handling for digital process monitoring and product quality control. Those will be validated in 5 different industrial ceramic, polymer and mineral nanoparticles manufacturing and converting environments. This implies that innovating PATs will be paired with new data-analytical technologies in order to provide, for the first time, a real-time analysis for manufacturing processes of particles in the nanometer scale with sub minute temporal resolution.
Start date: 2019-01-01
End date: 2023-02-28
Funded by: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 814410 - call H2020-NMBP-TR-IND-2018-2020 (TRANSFORMING EUROPEAN INDUSTRY).
Consortium Partners: 14 Participants.
Objective:
The GIOTTO project will exploit the most recent materials and manufacturing technological advancements to help healthcare systems fight the consequences of osteoporotic disease. Medical doctors will work together with scientists and medical device producers to develop and test new solutions based on cutting edge technologies such as 3D printing and smart nano-biomaterials. Ad hoc devices will be designed for the different types of osteoporotic fractures stimulating bone regeneration while reducing bone loss.
Start date: 2017-07-01
End date: 2020-12-31
Funded by: European Union under the programme Portugal 2020 (Fundos Europeus Estruturais e de Investimento - FEDER, Fundo de Coesão, FSE, FEADER e FEAMP).
Consortium Partners: FLUIDINOVA, S.A., Faculdade de Engenharia do Universidade do Porto, Instituto Superior de Engenharia (ISEP) and Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB).
Objective:
Development of antimicrobial substrates using nanoXIM hydroxyapatite as a raw material. These substrates are intended to simultaneously avoid infection and promote bone regeneration (Project technical file).
Start date: 2013-10-02
End date: 2017-10-01
Funded by: COST Action MP1301 Materials, Physical And Nanosciences. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme.
Consortium Partners: FLUIDINOVA, S.A. among more than 70 partners from 21 countries.
Objective: This COST Action, NEWGEN, aims at creating the seed for the European research and industry collaboration, combining basic knowledge from academic laboratories, R&D centres, medical units from hospitals, and a significant number of companies.
Start date: 2012-12-01
End date: 2014-11-30
Funded by: European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under the Research for the Benefit of SMEs Programme.
Consortium Partners: FLUIDINOVA, S.A., Ceramisys Ltd., Primequal SA, The University of Sheffield and Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft – LBI Trauma.
Objective: The repair and regeneration of bone tissue remains a significant clinical challenge in many clinical fields including orthopaedics, dentistry, and maxillofacial surgery. The problem is increasing in the face of complicating factors such as the ageing population. The aim of this project is to undertake a basic scientific study of new nanostructured biomaterials that will underpin the development of new nanostructured, injectable bone graft substitutes.
Start date: 2009-02-01
End date: 2012-12-30
Funded by: Agência de Inovação, SA, QREN-sistema de Incentivos à Investigação e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico (SI I&DT), Projecto nº 5372
Consortium Partners: FLUIDINOVA, S.A., Faculdade de Engenharia do Universidade do Porto and INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica.
Objective:
Development of new products for biomedical applications based on nano Hydroxyapatite raw-materials.
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2012-03-30
Funded by: European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° NMP2-SL-2008-214599.
Consortium Partners: FLUIDINOVA, S.A., Huntsman Corp., CUF - Químicos Industriais SA, Givaudan, Chemistry Innovation, Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH,University of Coimbra, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Warsaw University of Technology and Britest.
Objective:
The objective of the PILLS project is to develop and validate a design methodology and criteria for dealing with two-phase liquid/liquid-reactions leading to a new generation of flexible and high-performance process equipment (micro through to meso structured) for continuous manufacturing.
Start date: 2006-07-01
End date: 2008-06-30
Funded by: Agência de Inovação, SA, PRIME-DEMTEC, Projecto nº 70/00224
Promoter: FLUIDINOVA, S.A.
Objective:
• Validation of an industrial process – NETmix® technology – for the manufacturing of nano-sized materials;
• Scale up of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles production process – nano-HAp;
• Introduction and demonstration of NETmix® technology to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Working closely with research institutions and R&D partners FLUIDINOVA is able to continuously improve its range of products to answer to upcoming market needs while covering a wider spectrum of applications.
FLUIDINOVA has historical links to the Engineering Faculty of the University of Porto (FEUP) and the National Institute for Biomedical Engineering (INEB), concerning the technology development and the focus on calcium phosphate materials.
Nowadays FLUIDINOVA is connected and collaborating with several reference R&D institutions in Europe to expand its know-how and keep up with constant innovation required in the nanomaterials industries.
I.S. Fernandes, M.S.C.A. Brito, Y.A. Manrique, M.M. Dias, J.C.B. Lopes, R.J. Santos, “Computational Fluid Dynamics Model of Two-Phase Flow in NETmix Reactors”, Chem. Eng. Technol., 59(41), p. 18510 (2021).
A.C.G. Moreira, Y. Manrique, I.M. Martins, I.P. Fernandes, A.E. Rodrigues, J.C. Lopes, M. Dias, “Continuous production of melamine-formaldehyde microcapsules using a meso-structured reactor”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 59(41), p. 18510–18519 (2020).
M.J. Lima, A.M.T. Silva, C.G. Silva, J.L. Faria, J.C.B. Lopes, M.M. Dias, “An innovative static mixer photoreactor: Proof of concept”, Chemical Engineering Journal, 287, p. 419 (2016).
M. Fonte, M. E. Leblebici, M.M. Dias, J.C.B. Lopes, “The NETmix reactor: Pressure drop measurementsand 3D CFD modeling”, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 91(11), p. 2250 (2013).
E. Leblebici, C.M. Fonte, M.F. Costa, F. Ataíde, M.P. Garcia, V. Silva, T. Devic, P. Horcajada, P. Tavares, J.P. Araújo, R. Oliveira, J.L. Faria, M.M. Dias, J.C.B. Lopes, “Continuous Production of Magnetic and Metal-Organic Nanoparticles with NETmix Reactor” 13 AIChE Annual Meeting (2013).
M. Fonte, M. F. Costa, M. M. Dias, J. C. B. Lopes, “The NETmix Reactor: Heat and Mass Transfer Modeling and Mixing Properties Assessment”, North American Mixing Forum 13 AIChE Annual Meeting (2013)
E. Laranjeira, A.A. Martins, M.I. Nunes, J.C.B. Lopes, M.M. Dias, "NETmix®, a new type of static mixer: experimental characterization and model validation”, AIChE Journal, 57(4), p. 1020-1032 (2011).
P.J. Gomes, V.M.T.M. Silva, P.A. Quadros, M.M. Dias, J.C.B. Lopes, “A Highly Reproducible Continuous Process for Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles Synthesis”, Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 9(6), p. 3387-3395 (2009).
E. Laranjeira, A.A. Martins, J.C.B. Lopes, M.M. Dias, "NETmix®, a new type of static mixer: modeling, simulation, macro and micromixing characterization”, AIChE Journal, 55(9), p. 2226-2243 (2009)
M.T.M. Silva, P.A. Quadros, P.E.M.S.C. Laranjeira, M.M. Dias, J.C.B. Lopes, “A novel continuous industrial process for producing hydroxyapatite nanoparticles”, Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 29, p. 542–547 (2008).
C.B. Lopes, P.E.M.S.C. Laranjeira, M.M.Q. Dias, A.A.A. Martins, “Network mixer and related mixing process”, PCT/IB2005/000647. European patent EP1720643 (2005)
