Symphorium, a heart and blood vessel repair patch that is a new option for surgical treatment of newborns and infants with congenital heart disease, won the runner-up award at the 54th Senken Gosen Award from the Senken Shimbun, a specialized newspaper for the textile and fashion business industry. Selected as the Grand Prix. It was jointly developed by Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Fukui Keiben Kogyo in Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, and Teijin.
The Senken Synthetic Fibers Award recognizes excellent materials, technological development, and marketing activities in hopes of furthering the development of the synthetic fibers industry. The 2023 award ceremony was held in March at the Royal Park Hotel in Chuo-ku, Tokyo. "Symforium" missed out on the Grand Prix by one vote, but was unanimously awarded the Second Grand Prix as a testament to the high technical capabilities and potential of textile producing regions.
Symforium was created by Professor Shintaro Nemoto of the School of Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University, who came up with the idea of a patch that could replace the patient's own tissue to accommodate the increase in size due to the patient's growth. Using warp knitting technology, we incorporated cells into a special knitted fabric structure to develop a stretchable heart and blood vessel repair patch.
Teijin, which manufactures and develops pharmaceuticals and medical devices, also participated in the joint research by taking charge of commercialization design and regulatory filing, and as a result of progressing from 2014, it received manufacturing and sales approval from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2023, and will be completed in 2024. It became covered by insurance as of March 3st.
Surgery for congenital heart disease is performed to normalize blood circulation in the narrowed or defective area using a patch-shaped medical material, but this is often performed when the patient is a newborn or a child, and as children grow, the patch becomes a foreign object. Problems have arisen such as deterioration due to reactions and stenosis occurring at the surgical site due to the growth of the patient's body.
In 2021, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University will integrate Osaka Medical University and Osaka Pharmaceutical University to become a comprehensive medical university that includes the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Faculty of Nursing.
reference:[Fukui Ware Henning Kogyo] “Symphorium” was selected as the 54th Senken Gosen Prize Semi-Grand Prix
[Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University] Insurance coverage for heart and blood vessel repair patch “Symphorium”
