Ideally, alloplastic dural substitute should have functional properties resembling human dura mater and retain a watertight closure to prevent cerebrospinal leakage. Therefore, functional properties for successful dural closure application of newly developed bilayer oxidized regenerated cellulose knitted fabric/poly ε-caprolactone knitted fabric-reinforced composites were studied and compared with human cadaveric dura mater and three commercial dural substitutes including two collagen matrices and one synthetic poly-L-lactide patch. It was found that oxidized regenerated cellulose knitted fabric/poly ε-caprolactone knitted fabric-reinforced composites uniquely contained a bilayer structure consisting of micropores distributed within the relatively dense microstructure. Density, tensile properties and stitch tear strength of oxidized regenerated cellulose knitted fabric/poly ε-caprolactone knitted fabric-reinforced composites were found to be closed to human cadaveric dura mater than those of dense-type and porous-type dural substitutes. Water tightness performance in both sutured and non-sutured forms of oxidized regenerated cellulose knitted fabric/poly ε-caprolactone knitted fabric-reinforced composites was slightly inferior to human cadaveric dura mater, but still better than those of commercial dural substitutes. This study revealed that oxidized regenerated cellulose knitted fabric/poly ε-caprolactone knitted fabric-reinforced composite showed better functional properties than typical dural substitutes and was found to be a good candidate for being employed as a dural substitute. The role and relationship of both microstructure and the type of materials on the functional properties and water tightness of the dural substitutes were also elucidated.
Performance evaluation of bilayer oxidized regenerated cellulose/poly ε-caprolactone knitted fabric-reinforced composites for dural substitution.