Medical Design Briefs - April 2023 - 34

Smart Stitches Reduce Infection, Simplify Post-Op Monitoring
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
S
urgical site infections are one of the
most common medical infections,
occurring in 2-4 percent of patients
post-surgery. For some procedures,
such as vaginal mesh implants to treat
prolapse, infection rates can be much
higher, leading to a ban on that procedure
in 2018 in Australia.
Study lead author and Vice Chancellor's
Senior Research Fellow, Dr.
Shadi Houshyar, says their suture
was being developed in partnership
with clinicians specifically for this
type of procedure.
A new antimicrobial
" Our smart surgical sutures can
play an important role in preventing infection
and monitoring patient recovery
and the proof-of-concept material we've
developed has several important properties
that make it an exciting candidate
for this, " says Houshyar, research fellow
at RMIT's School of Engineering.
Lab tests on the surgical filament,
published in OpenNano, showed it was
easily visible in CT scans when threaded
through samples of chicken meat, even
after three weeks. It also showed strong
antimicrobial properties, killing 99 percent
of highly drug-resistant bacteria after
six hours at body temperature.
Houshyar says the team was not aware of
any commercially available suture products
that combined these properties.
n How They Did It
The multidisciplinary team led by
RMIT - which included nanoengineering,
biomedical, and textile experts working
in partnership with a practicing surgeon
- used the university's cutting-edge
textile manufacturing facility to develop
their proof-of-concept material.
The suture's properties come from the
combination of iodine and tiny nanoparticles,
called carbon dots, throughout the material.
Carbon dots are inherently fluorescent,
due to their particular wavelength,
but they can also be tuned to various levels
of luminosity that easily stand out from
surrounding tissue in medical imaging.
Attaching iodine to these carbon dots,
meanwhile, provides them with their
strong
34
suture material glows in medical
imaging. (Credit: RMIT University)
to produce in the lab from natural
ingredients.
" They can be tailored to create
biodegradable stitches or a permanent
suture, or even to be adhesive
on one side only, where
required, " she says. " This project
opens up a lot of practical solutions
for surgeons, which has
been our aim from the start and
the reason we have involved clinicians
in the study. "
n Clinical Possibilities
Consultant colorectal surgeon
and professor of surgery at the University
of Melbourne, Justin Yeung,
was involved in the study. He says it addressed
a real challenge faced by surgeons
in trying to identify the precise anatomical
location of internal meshes on CT scans.
" This mesh will enable us to help with
improved identification of the causes of
symptoms, reduce the incidence of mesh
infections, and will help with precise preoperative
planning, if there is a need to
surgically remove this mesh, " he says.
" It has the potential to improve surgery
outcomes and improve quality of life for a
huge proportion of women, if used as vaginal
mesh for example, by reducing the
need for infected mesh removal. "
" It may also significantly reduce surgery
duration and increase surgical accuracy
in general through the ability to visualize
mesh location accurately on
preoperative imaging. "
antimicrobial properties and
greater x-ray visibility. Houshyar says carbon
nanodots were safe, cheap, and easy
n Next Steps
Study co-author from RMIT's School
of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Prof.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
Prof. Elisa Hill-Yardin, Dr. Shadi Houshyar, and Prof. Justin
Yeung inspect a prototype of the iodine-infused filament.
(Credit: RMIT University)
Elisa Hill-Yardin, says the next steps are
preclinical trials.
" While this research is at an early stage,
we believe we are onto something very
promising that could help a lot of people
and are really keen to speak with industry
partners who are interested in working
with us to take it further, " she says. " We see
potential especially in vaginal mesh implants
and similar procedures. "
The research team used Australia's
university-based textile manufacturing
facilities at RMIT's Centre for Materials
Innovation and Future Fashion, as well
as the Rapid Discovery and Fabrication
team's labs to produce the proof-ofconcept
material.
Next, they will produce larger suture
samples to use in preclinical trials, which
they have just received seed funding for
from RMIT.
This article was written by Michael
Quin, RMIT University. For more information,
visitwww.rmit.edu.au.
Medical Design Briefs, April 2023
The filament visible in chicken samples, as seen
under CT scan. (Credit: RMIT University)
http://www.rmit.edu.au http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
Medical Design Briefs - April 2023

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