MR-visualization of surgical textile implants

Abstract

The use of surgical textile implants (so-called "mesh") for hernia repair is an accepted standard. They may cause mesh-related problems such as chronic pain, migration or fistula formation. Nevertheless, these polymer-based textile meshes are often invisible by conventional imaging methods like computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this study we outlined the major steps in the development of a MRvisible textile implant, which can be used in patients. To achieve MR-visability, ferrooxide particles were incorporated into the base material polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), during the spinning process. We could proof the MR-visibility of this new textile implant in different phantoms. After clinical approval of these implants in vivo in different animal studies, we pursued to evaluate the MRconspicuity of such ferrooxide-loaded mesh implants in patients treated for inguinal hernias and explored the postsurgical mesh configuration by MRI. In this study we described the development and first results of a ferrooxide-loaded MR-visible mesh. In animal model and in clinical use such implants turned out to be a valuable tool for diagnostic and development.