Development of a novel infection-resistant skin-button and cover materials for long-term VAD support

在这项研究中，我们开发了一种新型的抗感染皮肤纽扣来预防传动系感染。我们的皮肤纽扣类似于一个半球纽扣，由双层部件组成。这些部件是由具有皮肤般的柔韧性和足够的机械强度的嵌段聚氨酯制成的。下部以组织相容的多孔法兰为特色，用于植入传动系周围的皮下组织。它的孔径被优化以促进组织向材料内部生长，最上面的无孔部分用于固定与皮肤裸露状态的传动系。在活体实验中，3只新开发的皮肤纽扣动物完全没有表现出表皮向下生长的迹象，传动系出口处的局部细菌感染得到了完全预防，我们认为，新开发的皮肤纽扣可能成为延长VAD支持期间预防设备相关性感染的有用工具。

In this study, we developed a novel infection-resistant skin-button for preventing the driveline infection. Our skin-button that resembled a hemispheric button was consisted of bi-layered parts. These parts were made of the segmented polyurethane having skin-like flexibility and sufficient mechanical strength. The lower part featured tissue-compatible porous flange for implanting into the subcutaneous tissue around the driveline. Its pore size was optimized to promote tissue-ingrowth into the material, and the topmost nonporous part was used for fixing the driveline in the state of exposing from the skin. In in vivo study, three animals with newly developed skin-button demonstrated no sign of the epidermal downgrowth at all, and local bacterial infection at the exit site of the driveline was completely prevented.We conclude that the newly developed skin-button may become a useful tool for preventing device-rerated infection in prolonged VAD support.