Plasma Treatments to Boost the Biocompatibility of the Textile Medical Devices

The recovery of the defects due to surgery incisions requires the use of prosthetic implants, which may cause various complications on the long term, such as: the rejection/infection of the used graft, the development of fistulas or the recurrence of hernias. The use of the surgical meshes made up of synthetic polymers demonstrated a significant reduction of the recurrence rate, the minimization of pain and the improvement of general post-surgery results. The textile structures of the synthetic polymers made up of PES, PA and PP for hernias were treated in plasma to boost their biocompatibility. A low-pressure plasma installation with the oxygen gas allows for the treatment of the textile materials in a cubic chamber of 40 cm side in a roll-to-roll system. The contact angle measurement was applied according to ASTM D7490-08 Standard, in order to identify any surface modifications following the plasma treatment, respectively their hydrophilic properties. All plasma treated structures were hydrophilic. A MTT assay, a LDH – quantification of dead cells and a FDA staining analysis were performed before and after the plasma treatment, in order to establish the biocompatibility of the hernia meshes. The quantitative and qualitative results of the biocompatibility tests highlighted that the plasma treated textile structures improved the level of biocompatibility, characterized by high levels of MTT and low levels of LDH (when compared to the test control – HCT8 cells). These results were confirmed by the microscopic analysis too – for the cells grown on these structures had a high density and an unaltered morphology.