Novel Alloplastic Neo-Bladder for Bladder Replacement in Patients with Bladder Cancer

The scope of the project proposed by Prof Bikramjit Basu, Professor, Laboratory for Biomaterials, Material Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, is to develop "Novel alloplastic neo-bladder for bladder replacement in patients with bladder cancer". The team aims to design and develop a non-degradable, non-absorptive, inert and cost-effective synthetic biomaterial, which can replace the use of the intestine as an alternative for urinary diversions, applicable in case of bladder cancer. This work will be done in collaboration with Dr. Anil Mandhanj frpm Medanta. Meltextrusion technology will be used to develop polymeric blends, which will be further tested for their mechanical properties. Simultaneously, salt deposition will be investigated by using encrustation assays on the optimised polymeric blends. The team will also design a dynamic system that accurately models in vivo conditions to study in-vitro cyto-compatibity using artificial urine. Factors such as synthetic urine composition, urinary turnover, flow related turbulence etc. will be analysed. Subsequently, the team will test the blends with human urine samples and develop a final hollow bladder prototype at the end of the grant period. The solution is expected to benefit people suffering from bladder cancer.