Production of dual layer polymeric mesh and characterization for abdominal hernia treatment

Dual meshes are preferred to use in the case of umbilical and incisional hernias where the abdominal wall defect is very large. These meshes can be composed of two layers from non-absorbable materials or one layer may be from absorbable that can be degraded by the body after wound healing of the wall. The most crucial point in the design of a composite mesh is to produce two mesh layers with different properties. One layer would serve as a non-adhesive barrier for viscera while the other supports the restoration of abdominal wall. The main propose of the entire study is to design a novel dual layer composite mesh for the treatment of abdominal hernias. The developed mesh consists of two layer; one is a nanofibrous layer made of poly(glycerol sebacate)/poly(caprolactone) to support the healing of abdominal wall defect, while the other layer has non-adhesive properties to avoid the viscera adhesion to the mesh. A smooth film was produced from a medical grade polycarbonateurethane by either a simple solvent casting or a compression moulding process. For the adhesive layer, the PGS pre-polymer was synthesized by polycondensation and characterized by different methods, namely NMR, FTIR, DSC and GPC. Then PGS/PCL mixture was electrospun to obtain nanofibrous membrane which would glued onto PU film afterward. The mechanical analysis of the final products revealed that developed meshes may compete with the commercial products. Regarding to in vitro degradation studies, nanofibrous layer have already lost 28% of its weight after 60 days in PBS. SEM images also confirmed the degradation of nanofibers which was mainly related to PGS. It is expected that the developed meshes can be applied practically in clinical applications after in vitro cell culture and in vivo animal studies. This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey under project 214M134.