Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a rare and serious condition diagnosed at birth. It is characterized by a defect in the diaphragm that allows abdominal organs to move up into the chest cavity, compromising lung development and the survival of the most severely affected newborns. Treatment relies on early surgery, but in the most complex cases, closing the diaphragm requires the use of a prosthesis, which is still not specifically adapted to this condition.
It was in this context that the Foundation supported the project led by Professor Isabelle Talon and her teams, with the goal of developing a pediatric diaphragmatic prosthesis capable of meeting the mechanical, biological, and clinical demands of a child’s growth. This work made it possible to define precise specifications and then to design several prototypes using a new thermoplastic polyurethane material produced by electrospinning.
The results obtained are promising. The prototypes developed exhibit better mechanical properties than the reference prosthesis, particularly in terms of elasticity and fatigue resistance, while demonstrating good in vitro biocompatibility and encouraging in vivo integration. This research is now being continued with additional tests on growing animal models to evaluate the device’s long-term performance.
“Thanks to the support of the Rare Diseases Foundation and the IRCEM Corporate Foundation, we were able to take our projects further and develop a prosthesis that meets the mechanical specifications […]. We have observed better integration in animals implanted with our prostheses compared to those implanted with the standard prosthesis typically used in clinical practice. ”
Dr. Isabelle Talon, pediatric surgeon, project leader
Crucial seed funding
The support provided by the Rare Diseases Foundation through funding from the IRCEM Corporate Foundation (FE-IRCEM) served as a vital seed grant of €62,085, which subsequently enabled the project to secure €650,000 in ANR funding, a €200,000 FSMR/FMR/AFM grant of €200,000, as well as funding from the APEHDia patient association. The FE-IRCEM deserves our sincere thanks for its trust and commitment to children with HDC.
This project underscores the importance of investing in translational research to develop practical solutions that benefit children with rare diseases.
Scientific evaluation
The research has resulted in several publications:
Hirtzel J. et al.Strongly Metal-Adhesive and Self-Healing Gelatin-Polydopamine-Based Hydrogels. Antioxidants, 2023
Migneret R. et al.Development and characterization of a nanofibrous membrane for the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. 33rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials, 2023
Ball V. et al.Experimental methods for preparing polydopamine films. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2023