Seeing through blood with the microscope

Research at Kopfzentrum Bielefeld is supported by third-party funding: around 8 million euros have been raised for scientific projects, including from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

In the project “Bone resorption caused by cholesteatoma” funded by the German Research Foundation (GEPRIS project number 5238038), the factors and mechanisms were characterised that lead to the destruction of the bony structures of the middle ear by osteoclasts, and ways to inhibit the bone resorption with medication were investigated. For this research Prof. Sudhoff received the Politzer Prize of the Politzer Society in 2003; his team showed that certain agents inhibit osteoclast activity – for example the bisphosphonate zoledronate.

In the “BetterView” cooperation project, seven partners – including Bielefeld University and Klinikum Bielefeld – are developing an operating microscope that uses short-wave infrared light (SWIR). It is intended to illuminate blood, bacterial biofilms, cartilage and soft tissue, display them in three dimensions and make them distinguishable from one another. Prof. Sudhoff will use the new microscope at Klinikum Bielefeld.