Engineering Auxetic Cylinders and Intestine to Improve Longitudinal Intestinal Lengthening and Tailoring Procedure

Abstract

Auxetic materials can be exploited for coupling different types of tissues. Herein, we designed a material where the microorganism metabolic activity yields the formation of buckled/collapsed bubbles within gelling silicone cylinders thus providing auxetic properties. The finite element model of such hollow auxetic cylinders demonstrated the tubular structure to promote worm-like peristalsis. In this scenario, the described hybrid auxetic structures may be applied to the longitudinal intestinal lengthening and tailoring procedure to promote enteral autonomy in short bowel syndrome. The presented material and analytical design synergistic approach offer a pioneering step for the clinical translation of hybrid auxetic materials.

Keywords

• short bowel syndrome
• intestinal failure
• reconstructive surgical procedures
• mechanical modeling
• auxetic materials
• graphene