| The dura mater, a fibrous membrane surrounding the brain and spinal column, acts as the final barrier to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. This membrane can be resected in neurosurgery or damaged by trauma. With the resulting dural defects comes the need for watertight dural closures to prevent CSF leakage and further complications. Current dural closure techniques include suturing, tissue sealants, and dural replacement materials. These materials, however, have numerous limitations and carry large risks of postoperative complications to the patients. A novel silk fibroin sutureless dural repair system was explored in this work. This system consists of a silk adhesive and a dual layer silk composite material that has been specifically designed to both promote dural regeneration while also functioning as an impermeable barrier to CSF leakage. A series of experiments were performed to determine its morphology, mechanical characteristics, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and adhesive sealing ability. The results of experiments in this work show the potential for this system to significantly improve on currently used dural closure techniques. |
