Design and development of a microanastomosis device

Abstract

The aim of this study is to come up with a concept of a new anastomotic device to help the surgeon to speed up the anastomotic procedure and to make the procedure easy without compromising the quality of anastomosis. The proposed new device consists of an absorbable extraluminal ring with interlocking mechanism and to facilitate the attachment of the vessel with the ring, it utilizes the Bio-Glue. Poly L-Lactic Acid (PLLA) a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer is chosen as the ring material. The ring is fabricated by casting virgin PLLA (pellet form) into a cylindrical rod, followed by conventional machining. It is expected that the entire anastomosis procedure can be completed within 10 min using this device whereas it takes about 20 min using the standard suturing technique. This report describes the concept of this new anastomosis technique or device, the fabrication technique of this device and the physical and mechanical properties of the molded PLLA which is used as the device material.