Cellulose-based bioabsorbable and antibiotic coated surgical staple with bioinspired design for efficient wound...

The quest to design a flawless wound closure system began long ago and is still underway. Introducing surgical staples is one of the most significant breakthroughs in this effort. In this work, we developed a biodegradable surgical staple to meet the optimal wound closure system criteria and other clinical requirements, such as radiography compatibility and secondary infection prevention. To meet these requirements, a naturally derived cellulose acetate (CA) fiber-reinforced poly-(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) composite was synthesized, and its physicochemical properties were determined using several characterizations such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Universal testing machine (UTM), etc. Taking cues from the Mantis's foreleg, a novel staple design was implemented and verified using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The CA + PLLA staples were fabricated using melt-casted/3D-printing processes. The staples exhibited excellent biodegradation in both wound and physiological microenvironments with sufficient puncturing strength and later closed the wound's edges mechanically. In addition, the CA + PLLA staples also exhibit metal-like ductility properties to withstand horizontal skin tensions during the healing process. Further, the staples are coated with an antibiotic to combat infections effectively to provide better healing.