Preparation of Silk Fibroin coated Antimicrobial polypropylene meshes for hernia repair

Project Title

Preparation of Silk Fibroin coated Antimicrobial polypropylene meshes for hernia repair

Project Area of Specialization Artificial IntelligenceProject Summary

A hernia is defect in the abdominal wall due to “protrusion” of an organ or tissue. An abdominal wall hernia operation is repositioning of the hernia contents within the abdominal cavity using sutures and mesh materials.Indeed, mesh implantation for hernia repair has reduced hernia recurrence rate, compared to suturing techniques.Synthetic mesh materials have been successful for hernia repair since last decade. Nevertheless, among all these materials, polypropylene mesh has been considered as one of the best material  for repairing hernia’s. 

However, a significant complication of hernia repair is polypropylene(pp) mesh induced infection. In addition, pp is a hydrophobic polymer which does not absorb drugs during pre-operative prophylaxis. Mesh infection can be a serious problem if not solved in the initial stages of mesh implantation. After infection, it is difficult to cure the infected surgical area because heavy antibiotic doses to the body of the patient may cause side effects, Furthermore, the recurrence of the hernia may cause the removal of the hernia mesh, which can be costly in terms of the wealth and health of patients.

Therefore, to prepare antimicrobial pp mesh with a drug coating layer and creating an active surface of pp mesh are the key factors to reduce pp hernia mesh infection.

The new advancement in the preparation of medical devices is focused on producing biocompatible materials. Thus , silk fibroin a natural polymer have long been used as implantable surgical sutures. It has been increasingly considered for biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, slow degradation and remarkable mechanical properties.In this project , silk fibroin are prepared and pp mesh will be coated by silk fibroin after oxygen plasma treatment. silk fibroin have excellent antimicrobial properties and has absorbent surface thus, it can absorb drug and helps in prevention of mesh induced infection.

Project Objectives

The focus of this project is to prevent pp mesh induced infection in hernia repair and to choose material which is biocompatible, has excellent antimicrobial properties and has absorbant surface.

• To activate polypropylene fiber surfaces via oxygen plasma treatment.
• To prepare coating material (silk fibroin gel) by cocoons degumming and solubilization.
•  To coat silk fibroin on plasma modified polypropylene meshes.
• To characterize modified pp meshes under SEM (scanning electron microscope), AFM(atomic force microscopy), FTIS (fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and EDX( energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy).
• To test antimicrobial properties of modified polypropylene (pp) mesh for hernia repair.

Project Implementation Method

This project is divided into four phases:

1. The first phase is surface functionalization of PP mesh with oxygen plasma treatment to make the surface reactive.
2. Secondly  , preparation of silk fibroin using cocoons by degumming and solubilization .
3. In third phase silk fibroin will be coated on plasma treated PP meshes using padding machine.
4. In 4th and last phase ,PP mesh coated with silk fibroin will be further analyzed under SEM, AFM, FTIR and EDX. Tests will be performed to access the antimicrobial properties of the silk fibroin coated  pp meshes.

Benefits of the Project

• Ahernia mesh infection is necessary to control in the initial stages of mesh implantation. Thus, the silk fibroin coated pp meshes with good antimicrobial properties could be useful for prevention of hernia mesh infection.
• Due to the oxygen plasma treatment the covalent bonds are formed which make pp surface more reactive.
• Silk fibroin can easily be coated on plasma treated pp meshes to prevent mesh infection in hernia repair.It has antimicrobial properties and absorbant surface thus it can absorb drugs to prevent mesh infection.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

As the project is preparation of silk fibroin coated antimicrobial pp meshes, the polypropylene meshes for hernia repair are modified with plasma treatment using oxygen plasma chamber. Plasma treated pp meshes will be further analyzed under scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM ), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for characterization. Moreover, quantitative analysis by agar diffusion test method will be performed to assess the antibacterial properties of the silk fibroin coated pp mesh samples.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemType of Industry Medical Technologies Artificial Intelligence(AI)Sustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	38500
Polypropylene mesh device	Equipment	2	8000	16000
Scanning electron microscope (SEM)	Miscellaneous	8	1000	8000
Atomic force microscopy(AEM)	Miscellaneous	2	1000	2000
Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy	Equipment	4	1000	4000
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)	Equipment	3	1000	3000
Contact angle	Equipment	4	1000	4000
Plasma treatment	Equipment	1	1500	1500