Soft tissue response to different types of sintered metal fibre-web materials

Recently, it has been demonstrated that the soft tissue response to polymeric filter implants was predominantly dependent on the implant surface topography and that variation in the implant material had little effect. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to compare histologically the soft tissue response to sintered fibre-web implants made from different materials and with varying web porosity. Three different fibre-web materials with two different weights and two different porosities were used. The implants were inserted subcutaneously in the dorsum of rabbits. The implants were left in situ for 4 and 12 wk. Histological and tissue compatibility evaluations were performed. It is found that all the tested fibre-web materials show a good biocompatible behaviour. In addition, the results appear to indicate a relation between flexibility of an implant material and tissue behaviour.