STELE

Back pain is a common musculoskeletal symptom referred by more than 80% of the world population at least once in their life. It results in a huge social and economic problem, especially affecting the productive population in developed countries since it presents a maximum rate of incidence in people between the ages of 45 and 64 and it is the most frequent cause of disability and loss of days of activity in people under 45 years of age.

Current treatments for IDD range from conservative to surgical procedures. The STELE project proposes a ground-breaking approach to IDD treatment combining tissue engineering and cell therapy and driving to a bio-printed, customized and smart scaffold loaded with Extracellular Vesicles (EVs), easily injectable or implantable and promoting IVD self-repair.

 Pursued innovation relies on the following elements:

• EVs instead of cells
• Chitosan and alginate as biomaterials
• Loading of smart remote-controllable materials
• Highly-precise and customized 3D structures
• Injectable and implantable shapes