Biodegradable weft‐knitted intestinal stents: Fabrication and physical changes investigation in vitro degradation

Abstract

Biodegradable stents can alleviate intestinal obstruction and stenosis in patients. The objective of this study was to develop a biodegradable polydioxanone (PDO) stent using weft-knitting technology and then investigate its biodegradation behaviors in vitro. PDO monofilament with linear density of 100 ± 10 tex was knitted into a tubular stent using a tubular weft-knitting machine. The physical and mechanical properties were evaluated according to the British standard BS EN 13895:2003 and ISO 7198:1998. The biodegradation behaviors of PDO weft-knitted stent in a phosphate buffer solution (pH = 6.8 ± 0.2, 37 ± 0.5 °C) were then investigated. The results showed that the stent maintained more than 60% of its original radial force above 12 weeks. During the 16 weeks of degradation, weight, crystallization, and pH change indicated the degradation medium was diffused into the chain segments of low molecular weight due to the rupture of ester bonds in the monofilament. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results demonstrated that the chemical structure of PDO polymer is stable during the in vitro degradation. In conclusion, this biodegradable stent can find valuable applications in treatment of intestinal obstruction and stenosis clinically.

Mechanical properties of a biodegradable self-expandable polydioxanone monofilament stent: In vitro force relaxation and its clinical relevance

“…This allowed us to separately study the effect of stent material viscoelasticity on the radial force and pressure. Moreover, previous investigations of the in vitro chemical degradation of polydioxanone [12,18] show that the Young's modulus of polydioxanone and radial force and pressure of the unloaded polydioxanone stent are maintained for up to 6-8 weeks. These findings prove that the force relaxation observed within the first 48 h is caused by viscoelasticity and not the chemical degradation of polydioxanone.…”

“…Many studies have investigated stent material properties. These studies have mainly focused on biocompatibility [14], corrosion resistance [12,13,[15][16][17], "simple elastic" stress-strain characteristics [13,18,19], and elastic memory [16,[20][21][22]. Other studies have investigated or developed new materials [23][24][25] and stent designs [13,22,25].…”

Use of an Absorbable Urethral Stent for the Management of a Urethral Stricture in a Stallion

“…Biodegradable, absorbable stents are preferred in some instances to avoid these complications . The use of polydioxanone biodegradable stents has been reported in experimental and clinical studies . Novotny et al used a rabbit airway model and reported polydioxanone stents were completely absorbed 10 weeks after implantation, and only mild lymphoplasmacytic inflammation and minimal residual scar tissue remained at 15 weeks.…”

“…[49][50][51][52][53] The use of polydioxanone biodegradable stents has been reported in experimental and clinical studies. [54][55][56][57] Novotny et al 55 used a rabbit airway model and reported polydioxanone stents were completely absorbed 10 weeks after implantation, and only mild lymphoplasmacytic inflammation and minimal residual scar tissue remained at 15 weeks. In our stallion, the stent was not evident on ultrasound examination 155 days after implantation.…”

Silk‐Based Biomaterials in Biomedical Textiles and Fiber‐Based Implants

“…In previous studies, biodegradable and or drug-loaded stents have been demonstrated as an option to treat intestinal obstructions and stenosis [184, 185] . The major advantages of biodegradable stents are that they avoid long-term complications and do not require removal, thus avoiding further surgeries and potential morbidity [186, 187] .…”