| Description |
Percutaneous osseointegrated prosthetics are a promising limb prosthetic alternative for amputees. Similar to other percutaneous devices that have permanent residence in host tissue, their success is dependent on an impassable attachment between skin and the device. An incomplete attachment greatly increases risk of infection and subsequent device removal. A common failure mechanism of percutaneous devices is the epidermis migrating internally, called "epidermal downgrowth," creating a pocket between the skin and the device. This pocket serves as an access point for microorganisms, contributing to infection and device failure. Thus, there is a need to improve the skin integration with the percutaneous device such that microbial access and infection is prevented. This first portion of this dissertation work sought to investigate infection vulnerability of porous titanium and smooth titanium percutaneous implants with subcutaneous flanges. In this work, a more relevant small animal model of percutaneous device infection was established. It was demonstrated that porous surfaces significantly decreased risk of infection of percutaneous implants. However, due to epidermal downgrowth in the majority of implants, there was an absence of skin integration with the percutaneous component, thus contributing to increased infection susceptibility and device failure. |
