Physico-Mechanical Performance Evaluation of Large Pore Synthetic Meshes with Different Textile Structures for Hernia Repair Applications

Abstract

This paper studied the relationship between the textile structure of warp knitted hernia repair meshes and their physico-mechanical properties to solve the problem of hernia patch application evaluation and clear the mechanism of hernia patch structure-performance for clinical application. Six different prototypes of large pore meshes were fabricated, including four kinds of meshes with different pore shapes: H (hexagonal), D (diamond), R (round) and P (pentagonal); and two kinds of meshes with inlays: HL (hexagonal with inlays) and DL (diamond with inlays), using the same medical grade polypropylene monofilament. All meshes were designed with the same walewise density and coursewise density. Then the influence of other structural parameters on the physico-mechanical properties of the meshes was analysed. The physico-mechanical properties of these meshes tested meet the requirements of hernia repair, except mesh DL, whose tear resistance strength (12.93 ± 2.44 N in the transverse direction) was not enough. Mesh R and P demonstrated less anisotropy, and they exhibited similar physico-mechanical properties. These four kinds of meshes without inlays demonstrated similar ball burst strength properties, but mesh HL and DL exhibited better ball burst strength than the others. All in all, uniform structures are expected to result in less anisotropy, and meshes with inlays, to some extent, possess higher mechanical properties. And the ratio of open loop number to closed loop number in a repetition of weave of fabric has marked effect on the physico-mechanical properties. Thus we can meet the demands of specific patients and particular repair sites by designing various meshes with appropriate textile structures.