43 / 2019-06-23 22:26:13

Nepenthes inspired ultra-slippery textured surface with wettability gradients for anti-sticking of soft tissue

minimally invasive surgery,anti-sticking,soft tissue,wettability gradients surface

全体主题 > Medical diagnosis and surgical robotics

Minimally invasive surgery with the advantages of less trauma, slight pain and quicker recovery has gradually become the mainstream of surgical operation. Surgical tissue cutting and hemostasis are usually accomplished via energy-based surgical instruments such as monopole electrode and electric coagulation. Due to high working temperature, soft tissue sticking of surgical instruments in minimally invasive surgery can increase the difficulty of operation and easily lead to medical malpractice. In this paper, inspired by continuous and directional water transport of Nepenthes peristome, a self-lubricating slippery surface with wettability gradients on electrosurgical scalpel was designed and fabricated on the surfaces of surgical instruments. Micro arrayed pillars were prepared by an electrolytic etching process with diameter range from 60μm to 200μm with height of 15±5μm and the theoretic of the spontaneous liquid spreading process was analysed. Silicone oil, with good biocompatibility and high temperature resistance, was chosen as the infused liquid after the textured surfaces were OTS modified. The contact angle of gradient’s surface at different temperatures was measured. The transportation behaviours of both water and dimethyl silicone oil on the wettability gradient’s surface were investigated; the results illustrate that the wettability gradient’s slippery surface can successfully self-lubricate from regions with low pillar density to regions with high pillar density ascribed to the unbalanced Young’s force. The anti-sticking effects of prepared surface were evaluated compared to the untreated surfaces. Results suggest that the as-prepared slippery surface has excellent anti-sticking ability associated with better durability.