Evaluation of Bioresorbable Surgical Meshes by Ultrasound

We report a new approach to the quantitative ultrasonic examination of resorbable surgical meshes used for abdominal hernia. Information about the current state of a resorbable mesh is important for monitoring the prosthesis integration and the healing processes. The method presumes two successive steps. At first, an acoustic image of a mesh structure is obtained by scanning the object at a relatively high frequency and vectors of the reciprocal lattice are determined by the Fourier transform of the image. At the second step, the object is irradiated along the found direction of the reciprocal lattice by a low frequency wave inclined to the plane of the mesh. The signal of a back reflection is acquired and processed quantitatively as a function of tilt angle or frequency. On an example of model objects artificially fabricated with textile meshes, the ability of the structures under examination to effectively generate Bragg scattering is demonstrated. Comparative tests with objects imitating mesh resorption confirm the method’s ability to reveal mesh degradation.