Toward a skin-material interface with vacuum-integrated capped macroporous scaffolds

Avulsion, epidermal marsupialization, and infection cause failure at the skin-material interface. A robust interface would permit implantable robotics, prosthetics, and other medical devices; reconstruction of surgical defects, and long-term access to blood vessels and body cavities. Torus-shaped cap-scaffold structures were designed to work in conjunction with negative pressure to address the three causes of failure. Six wounds were made on the backs of each of four 3-month old pigs. Four unmodified (no caps) scaffolds were implanted along with 20 cap-scaffolds. Collagen type 4 was attached to 21 implants. Negative pressure then was applied. Structures were explanted and assessed histologically at day 7 and day 28. At day 28, there was close tissue apposition to scaffolds, without detectable reactions from defensive or interfering cells. Three cap-scaffolds explanted at day 28 showed likely attachment of epidermis to the cap or cap-scaffold junction, without deeper marsupialization. The combination of toric-shaped cap-scaffolds with negative pressure appears to be an intrinsically biocompatible system, enabling a robust skin-material interface. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2016.