C. Gajjar
Medtronic,
United States
Summary:
Bioresorbable Medical Textiles such as sutures, meshes, and tissue scaffolds are designed to support healing mechanically and to gradually disappear once their job is done. But an often overlooked reality is that the manufacturing process itself can strongly influence how these textile based devices perform inside the body. This talk explores how fiber processing conditions shape the mechanical performance and degradation behavior of bioresorbable medical textiles using poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers as a representative example. Through a combination of textile manufacturing studies and molecular level simulations, this work shows that common processing steps, such as thermal exposure, spinning speed, and fiber drawing can introduce subtle, process induced changes that govern strength retention and degradation profile, even when the material chemistry remains unchanged. Why does this matter? For medical devices, unexpected loss of strength or premature degradation can directly affect clinical outcomes. By treating processing not merely as a manufacturing step, but as a design variable, we gain new opportunities to create resorbable fiber based medical devices that are more predictable, reliable, and better matched to the body’s healing timeline. This talk highlights why manufacturing should be viewed not as a downstream step, but as a powerful design tool for next generation medical textiles.