2023-03-13 ワシントン大学セントルイス校
The unique array of hooks on the fruit of hitchhiker plant H. palermi led researchers at the Center for Engineering MechanoBiology to develop improved suturing techniques for surgically repairing tissues. (Image: Genin laboratory)
ワシントン大学のGuy Genin氏とEthan D. Hoppe氏らの研究チームは、この植物の付着システムに着目し、腱を骨に再接続するための新しい縫合技術を開発している。これまでの縫合方法では、負荷が均等に分散されないため、失敗率が高くなっていた。しかし、ヒゲギスギスの力学的な特徴を応用した新しい手法は、縫合部位の力を均等に分散することができるため、縫合強度を倍増することができるという。研究結果は、英国王立協会紀要に掲載されている。
<関連情報>
- https://source.wustl.edu/2023/03/hitchhiker-plants-inspire-improved-techniques-for-reattaching-tendon-to-bone/
- https://engineering.wustl.edu/news/2023/Hitchhiker-plants-inspire-improved-techniques-for-reattaching-tendon-to-bone.html
- https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.2022.0583
ヒッチハイカー植物の力学に関する離散シアラグモデル、およびその腱-骨修復への応用の見通し A discrete shear lag model of the mechanics of hitchhiker plants, and its prospective application to tendon-to-bone repair
Ethan D. Hoppe,Victor Birman,Iden Kurtaliaj,C. Matt Guilliams,Barbara G. Pickard,Stavros Thomopoulos and Guy M. Genin
Proceedings of the Royal Society A Published:01 March 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2022.0583
Abstract
Tendon-to-bone repairs often fail when sutures pull through tendon, like a wire through cheese. Repair strength is maximized when loads are balanced equally among all sutures, relative to the pullout resistance of the tendon and the strength of the sutures. This problem of balancing loads across multiple, discrete attachment sites has been solved in nature by hitchhiker plants that proliferate by adhering relatively stiff fruit to relatively soft fur and fabrics through arrays of hooks. We, therefore, studied the fruits of such a plant, Harpagonella palmeri, and developed a discrete shear lag analysis of the force distributions in H. palmeri‘s linear arrays of long, slender hooks of varied lengths and spacing. Results suggested that strategies were used by the plant to distribute loads, including variations in the spacing and stiffnesses of hooks that serve to equalize forces over attachment sites. When applying these models to suturing schemes for surgical reattachment of tendon to bone, results suggested that strategies exhibited by H. palmeri show promise for balancing forces over sutures, potentially doubling repair strength relative to what could be achieved with a uniform suture distribution. Results suggest a potential pathway for strengthening surgical repairs, and more broadly for optimizing fasteners for bi-material attachment.
