Science & Technology, Australia (Commonwealth Union) – Post-surgery infections are a common and serious complication that can occur after any surgical procedure. An infection occurs when bacteria or other harmful microorganisms enter the body through the incision site or other surgical wounds, and begin to grow and multiply, leading to a range of unpleasant symptoms and potentially severe complications.
These infections can occur in any type of surgical procedure, from minor outpatient surgeries to major, complex operations. Some surgeries, such as those involving the gastrointestinal tract or genitourinary system, are at a higher risk of infection due to the presence of large amounts of bacteria in these areas. In addition, certain factors can increase the risk of infection, such as a weakened immune system, underlying medical conditions, or the presence of other infections.
A new antimicrobial suture (sterile surgical threads) material giving a glow in medical imaging maybe a potential alternative for mesh implants along with internal stitches according to a recent study.
Certain surgical procedures, like vaginal mesh implants to treat prolapse, infection rates are generally higher than other procedures, that brought about a ban on that procedure back in 2018 in Australia.
The lead author of the study and Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, Dr Shadi Houshyar, said their suture was being developed in collaboration with clinicians specifically for this type of method.
“Our smart surgical sutures can play an important role in preventing infection and monitoring patient recovery and the proof-of-concept material we’ve developed has several important properties that make it an exciting candidate for this,” explained Dr Houshyar, of the RMIT University, School of Engineering.
Lab tests on the surgical filament, that were published in the OpenNano, demonstrated that it was simply visible in CT scans.
It further demonstrated strong antimicrobial properties, destroying 99 percent of highly drug-resistant bacteria following 6 hours at body temperature.
Dr Houshyar stated that the team did not know of any commercially present suture products that combined these properties.
The multidisciplinary team that was led by RMIT, consisted of nano-engineering, biomedical and textile experts collaborating together with a practicing surgeon, that utilized the cutting-edge textile manufacturing facility at the university to form their proof-of-concept material.
The features of the suture arrived from the combination of iodine and extremely small nanoparticles, known as carbon dots, throughout the material as indicated by researchers.
Carbon dots are inherently fluorescent, as a result of their particular wavelength, however they are capable of also being adjusted to various levels of luminosity that are simply identifiable from surrounding tissue for medical imaging.
Drawing iodine to these carbon dots, meanwhile, gave the researchers their strong antimicrobial properties along with increased X-ray visibility.
Dr Houshyar indicated that carbon nano dots were safe, economical and simple to create in the laboratory from natural ingredients.
“They can be tailored to create biodegradable stitches or a permanent suture, or even to be adhesive on one side only, where required,” explained Dr Houshyar.
“This project opens up a lot of practical solutions for surgeons, which has been our aim from the start and the reason we have involved clinicians in the study.”
Study co-author from the RMIT, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Professor Elisa Hill-Yardin, stated that the next steps were to be the pre-clinical trials.
“While this research is at an early stage, we believe we are onto something very promising that could help a lot of people and are really keen to speak with industry partners who are interested in working with us to take it further,” explained Professor Hill-Yardin.
“We see potential especially in vaginal mesh implants and similar procedures.”
The researchers made use of the university-based textile manufacturing facilities at the RMIT, Centre for Materials Innovation and Future Fashion, together with the Rapid Discovery and Fabrication of the team’s labs forming the proof-of-concept material.
