Per-Ingvar Brånemark, a professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg, has been nominated for the European Inventor Award 2011 in the category "Lifetime achievement". He is one of the pioneers of osseointegration, a standard technique used among dentists.
Brånemark started developing the method in the early 1960s. He discovered that titanium is not rejected by the body and instead is integrated by surrounding bone tissue.
Osseointegration is now a widely practiced form of dental treatment. It is also used in applications such as leg, arm and maxillofacial prostheses, and for anchoring hearing aids.
Brånemark emphasises the fact that the close link between academia and the Sahlgrenska Hospital, as it was then known, was a key factor in his successful research.
- When I first started carrying out research in 1961, I saw an opportunity to break down the barriers between basic research and clinical work, explains Professor Brånemark, who remains active within the field.
- This collaboration has worked extremely well, both in relation to my colleagues and in relation to the patients who have been essential to my research.
Awards in five categories will be presented at a ceremony on May 19 in Budapest.
