Oral Presentation ESA-SRB-APEG-NZSE 2022

New Generation of Mesh Technology for Prolapse Repair (#248)

Shayanti Mukherjee 1
  1. Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, VIC, Australia

Pelvic floor disorders such as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) affect 1 in 4 women. Until recently, polypropylene meshes were often used to augment native tissue repair pelvic reconstructive surgery as a treatment option for POP. However, they have been associated with serious complications such as inflammation, pain and erosion. As a result, such non-degradable meshes have been banned in many countries including Australia and New Zealand. At present, there is no optimal therapy for the treatment of chronic POP leaving millions of women in despair. Polypropylene meshes bear no resemblance to the native vaginal tissue and elicit undesirable tissue responses which have been the underlying cause of its failure in the long term. Our team has been developing a new generation of biocompatible and degradable meshes that have better tissue integration. Furthermore, we showed that the repair and regeneration of tissue can be further enhanced by boosting the meshes with SUSD2+ Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from women’s endometrium (eMSCs). This presentation outlines the development of novel surgical constructs for vaginal repair by merging parallel technologies of stem cell science, nanotechnology, 3D printing and cellular bioprinting using unique preclinical mice, rat and ovine models. Our research delves deep into the interplay between immune cells and mesh design to understand tissue integration and foreign body response. This presentation will also feature our pre-clinical and clinical research into the development of a new generation of therapeutics for advancing maternal urogynaecological health.