Non-woven textiles for medical implants: mechanical performances improvement

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Textile Science
• Medical Device Development

Background:

• Non-woven textiles are widely used as medical implant scaffolds due to their high surface area-to-volume ratio, promoting tissue interaction.
• A key limitation of non-woven materials for medical implants is their inherent low strength, stemming from poor fiber cohesion.
• Improving the mechanical integrity of non-woven scaffolds is crucial for their efficacy and durability in biomedical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of embroidery stitching as a reinforcement technique for non-woven medical implant substrates.
• To quantify the increase in mechanical strength (ultimate tensile strength, burst strength) achieved through stitching.
• To evaluate the impact of stitching parameters and fatigue stress on the reinforced non-woven materials.

Main Methods:

• Non-woven samples were fabricated using melt-blowing and electro-spinning techniques.
• Samples were reinforced with stitching yarn, varying stitch distance, number of lines (1, 2, 3), and line geometry (H, L, X).
• Mechanical performance was assessed through ultimate tensile strength, burst strength, and fatigue stress tests, comparing reinforced to control samples.

Main Results:

• Embroidery reinforcement increased strength by up to 50% in melt-blown mats and 100% in electro-spun mats, particularly with an 'X' pattern.
• However, the reinforcement yarn led to degradation of electro-spun mats after cyclic loading.
• An increased number of stitches tended to fragilize the non-woven mats.

Conclusions:

• Embroidery stitching offers a viable method to significantly enhance the mechanical strength of non-woven scaffolds for medical implants.
• Careful selection of stitching parameters is essential to maximize strength benefits while avoiding material degradation and fragility.
• Further research is needed to optimize reinforcement strategies for electro-spun materials to mitigate fatigue-induced degradation.