The clinical and experimental research jointly strives to improve the care of musculoskeletal injuries and the understanding of musculoskeletal diseases. The translational research is based on the clinical problem and includes the following topics: Investigations into new stabilization methods, diagnostics of motor functions and dysfunctions, basics of osteoarthritis, tendinopathy, bone regeneration and infection.

Equipment: Expansion of the EMG measurement technology to include a wireless system for application-related use and expansion of the wired EMG technology to 96 channels.

Director:
Prof. Dr. Dr. Gunther O. Hofmann

Experimental Trauma Surgery:
Prof. Dr. Britt Wildemann
, Am Klinikum 1, 07747 Jena

Motoric Lab:
apl. Prof. Dr. Christoph Anders
, Bachstraße 18, 07743 Jena

Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery

Research projects

Insertion depth of the femoral neck helical blade and its effects on fixation stability

Principal Investigator: PD Dr. med. Mark Lenz
AO Research Institute Davos 2015-2019

The optimization of the implant position for the treatment of femoral neck fractures was examined biomechanically on human anatomic specimens. A reduced tip-apex-distance showed no increase in fixation stability, but an increased risk of cortical perforation in the hip joint. The fixation of the helical blade in the cancellous bone correlated with the BMD, local breakout moment and fixation stability (cycles to failure). (Lenz et al. 2019)

Factors influencing quality of life, function, reintegration and participation after musculoskeletal tumour operations

Principal Investigator: Dr. Wolfram Weschenfelder
2018-2020

Improved treatments lead to an increased long-term survival of patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas. Therefore, the impact of these major surgeries on quality of life, function, reintegration and participation becomes increasingly important. To date, there is little data on this or reliable recommendations regarding support for these patients. We were able to show that patient-specific factors, such as education and pre-existing depression or anxiety, had an influence, but not tumour size or radiation. (Weschenfelder et al. 2020)

LEVIAKTOR - Subproject myoelectric activation patterns of shoulder and arm muscles

Principal Investigator: PD Dr. Nikolaus-Peter Schumann
BMBF 2018-2021

The LEVIAKTOR-Projects aims at developing a muscle-controlled active exoskeleton for manual labour support. The connected research at the FB Motorik investigates the shoulder and arm muscles’ EMG-characteristics regarding movement onset behaviour, fatigue effects and dependencies on the movement direction. In a second step, an automatic information processing for EMG-based exoskeleton control shall be designed.

Impact of diabetes mellitus on knee osteoarthritis pain and physical and mental status: data from the Osteoarthitis Initiative

Principal Investigator: Dr. Annett Eitner (in Kooperation mit Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Schaible, Institut für Physiologie I)
2018-2020

Individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) suffer from greater rates of incidence and progressive osteoarthritis (OA) compared with non-DM controls. Our study analyzed the data of 2481 participants from the large cohort study “Osteoarthritis Initiative” and revealed a strong negative impact of DM on osteoarthritis pain, physical and mental health status. The impact of DM was independent of osteoarthritis severity, body mass index, age and sex. Thus, the results indicate that DM is an independent factor of greater osteoarthritis pain and worse health status. (Eitner et al. 2020)

In vivo and in vitro mechanical loading of mouse Achilles tendons and tenocytes

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Britt Wildemann
2018-2020

Mechanical stress is important for tendon tissue, and in vitro loading models are employed to gain deeper knowledge on the cellular and molecular response of tenocytes. In this pilot study, the cellular response in vitro was compared with the response of in vivo loaded tendons. Similar gene expression of tendon markers was seen, while significant changes in the expression of extracellular matrix genes were detected between in vivo and in vitro loading. (Fleischhacker et al. 2020)

Further projects

Influence of neuropeptides on protective and damaging metabolic functions of chondrocytes in hip osteoarthritis

Principal Investigator: Dr. Annett Eitner

Deutsche Arthrose-Hilfe e.V. 2018 – 2020
The role of interleukin-6 in osteoarthritic pain and chondrocyte homeostasis

Principal Investigator: Dr. Annett Eitner (in Kooperation mit Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Schaible, Institut für Physiologie I)

DFG 2020 -2023
Development of an OEMG biofeedback system for the rehabilitation of neuromuscular functional disorders of the hand

Principal Investigator: apl. Prof. Dr. Christoph Anders

BMWi 2017-19
Characterization of the cell and tissue quality of the autologous tendon transplant after local vancomycin treatment

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Britt Wildemann, PD Dr. Matthias Aurich

AFOR Stiftung 2020 -2021
Development of an intraoperative tool for the objectification of syndesmosis involvement in unstable ankle injuries

Principal Investigator: Dr. Felix Kohler

AO Trauma Deutschland 2020 -2021

Selected publications

Lenz M, Schwinn J, Hofmann-Fliri L, Schwyn R, Knobe M, Klos K, Kielstein H, Hofmann GO, Gueorguiev B. Influence of reduced tip-apex distance on helical blade fixation-a biomechanical study. J Orthop Res. 2019 Mar;37(3):649-654. doi:10.1002/jor.24202.
Weschenfelder W, Gast-Froehlich S, Spiegel C, Vogt M, Hofmann GO. Factors influencing quality of life, function, reintegration and participation after musculoskeletal tumour operations. BMC Cancer. 2020 Apr 25;20(1):351. doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-06837-x.
Anders C, Patenge S, Sander K et al. Systematic differences of gluteal muscle activation during overground and treadmill walking in healthy older adults. J Electromyogr Kines 2019; 44: 56-63. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2018.11.013
Eitner A, Culvenor AG, Wirth W, Schaible H-G, Eckstein F, Impact of diabetes mellitus on knee osteoarthritis pain and physical and mental status: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Arthritis Care Res. 2020. Doi: 10.1002/acr.24173.
Fleischhacker V, Klatte-Schulz F, Minkwitz S, Schmock A, Rummler M, Seliger A, Willie BM, Wildemann B. In Vivo and In Vitro Mechanical Loading of Mouse Achilles Tendons and Tenocytes-A Pilot Study. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Feb 15;21(4):1313.

Outstanding achievements

Dr. Felix Kohler was awarded the AOTrauma Germany Prize 2020 for Promoting Young Talents.

The laboratory of the Department for Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery was certified by the Basic Research Section of the DGOU e.V. as a network laboratory for musculoskeletal regeneration for the period 2019-2023.