Cover Image, Volume 135, Issue 13

This SEM image from Silvia Todros and colleagues shows the morphology of a non‐medical‐grade PET industrial net. Industrial nets are used as a low‐cost alternative to surgical meshes for hernia repair in less developed countries. These nets have a comparable chemical composition to hernia prostheses; however, they are knitted with multi‐filament fibers which are different from surgical meshes that are commonly knitted from monofilaments. Even though physicochemical and mechanical characterization show a similarity to standard prostheses, multi‐filament fibers can be considered problematic in vivo since increased infection risk and bacterial colonization have been related to a larger surface area in multi‐filament fiber prostheses. (DOI: 10.1002/app.46014 )