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Biodegradation of Surgical Polypropylene Meshes
Author(s) -
Fiedler Anna K
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.636.5
Subject(s) - polypropylene , biodegradation , polygon mesh , degradation (telecommunications) , materials science , oxygen , chemistry , chemical engineering , composite material , computer science , engineering , organic chemistry , telecommunications , computer graphics (images)
Surgical meshes of a variety of materials, such as polypropylene, are commonly used in many procedures to support tissues. From our previous studies on polypropylene meshes, samples of mesh removed from patients often demonstrated biodegradation proportional to the amount of time that had passed since implantation. To expand this field of study, we tested the mesh sample in E. coli media to observe if degradation would occur in a controlled, single‐organism environment. Mesh samples were immersed in either an E. coli media or a control solution; the biodegradation was measured at one‐, two‐ and three‐month intervals. At this point the samples were harvested from both E. coli media and the control media for analysis, and results were then compared. A scanning electron microscope was used to identify surface defects and capture images of the material deterioration. Additionally, infrared spectroscopy was used to qualitatively identify oxygen present in the samples, while energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy quantifiably determined oxygen levels and degradation. Results from this study demonstrate that bioerosion and increased oxygen content can be observed in the mesh structure due to E. coli activity. Future plans include the synthesis of a monomer with collagen as a functional group to improve interactions with living tissues while maintaining structural integrity. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .