The creation of anastomoses between various parts of the GI tract is a major task in the daily practice of oncological, reconstructive and transplant surgery. The most widely used anastomosing techniques today involve the use of sutures or metal titanium staples. Both techniques involve foreign material penetrating the tissue and evoking localized inflammatory response, tissue injury and breaking of mucosal barriers that may facilitate bacterial growth within the anastomotic line, increasing the propensity to anastomotic-related morbidity. Different types of compression devices were successfully used clinically in the past. The history and evolving characteristics of this technology is reviewed. Nitinol-based solutions for the creation of compression anastomosis are evaluated as a possible potential for revolutionary impact on the current surgical methods and anastomosing technology in the alimentary tract and beyond.

Reconstruction of the digestive system lumen patency (anastomosis creation) after its partial surgical removal is a common and crucial procedure. The conventional anastomosis methods use devices for mechanical suturing which are associated with high failure risk and can lead to major complications. The compression anastomosis as a sutureless method seems to be a promising alternative. However, attempts during the last two centuries have not been completely successful due to the complex character of the tissuehealing process. The specific mechanical behavior of Nitinol alloys was applied to the force element of the compression devices. These devices are becoming more widely adopted in surgery practice. The compression anastomosis device enables the anastomosis of colonic and intestinal tissue based on compression forces exerted by Nitinol leaf springs. By means of changing the strain distribution in the stressed leaves with varying moments of inertia, one can gain full control of the different stages in the force-deflection profile (i.e., linear elastic stage and the force plateau stage). The target of this study is the comparison of different Nitinol leaf geometries and evaluation of the finite elements analysis as a tool for preliminary design of such geometries. The results of this analysis allow us to establish regulation of the springÕs mechanical behavior, thus controlling the anastomosis creation in the compression anastomosis device.