Development and biomechanical testing of artificial surrogates for vaginal tissue

Millions of women around the globe have been affected by inadequately assessed gynaecological surgeries and urogynaecology mesh implantations. The unavailability of vaginal tissues could be the primary reason for such failed surgeries, which inhibit experimental practice and mesh implantation before real-time surgery. A tissue surrogate with realistic biomechanical properties of vaginal tissue would be anticipated to imitate the surgical suturing practice during traumatic child deliveries (e.g. Caesarean) and hysterectomy. Vaginal tissue surrogates, which simulate different conditions such as vaginal tissue stiffening, would also be highly beneficial in evaluating tissue changes under different scenarios (e.g. prolapse of tissue). The present study reported the development of low-cost elastomer-based vaginal tissue surrogates that simulate the mechanical properties of the human vaginal tissue. The composition of the elastomer material was arbitrarily varied to fabricate the candidate samples for the uniaxial tensile testing. The non-linear mechanical behaviour of the developed vaginal tissue simulants was characterised using the hyperelastic curve fitting formulations. The novel vaginal tissue surrogates with precisely characterised biomechanical properties would be indispensable for surgical training (e.g. gynaecological) and making medical models for educational purposes.