Concepts for completely absorbable wound closing rivets and prototype manufacturing

Abstract

The development process of a medical implant is constrained by its mechanical, medical and biological functionality. Specifications of implant dimension, mechanical stiffness and area of instrument application form the essential influences on the technical design. In this paper new concepts for wound closing rivets are presented. The rivets are intended to be used in the gastrointestinal tract via endoscopes. After fulfilling functionality the materials are required to degrade completely. Prototypes were manufactured of absorbable materials. The main challenge while designing instruments for minimal invasive surgery is the diameter of working channels of standard endoscopes. Considering this dimensional limitation, the manufacturing process had to be very precise. It was our goal to use a less sophisticated production technology. A combination of several absorbable materials was chosen to fulfill the required mechanical properties and degradation.