Eksharova Sofiya, Poletaeva Yuliya, Kurenkova Anna, Mishchenko Denis, Aydakov Egor, Serdyukov Vladimir
Biomechanics and medical engineering laboratory, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Biomater Transl. 2025 Apr 24;6(2):202-211. doi: 10.12336/bmt.24.00073. eCollection 2025.
The threat of bacterial growth on the skin under the prosthetic liners or sleeves is an important problem, which can cause various serious diseases up to the repeated amputation. One of the promising ways to solve this problem is to use antibacterial materials as a liner/sleeve material. Among others composite based on the silicone polymer with silver particles additive is may be a simple and effective solution, since the silicone is the main material for the prosthetic liners and sleeves and silver demonstrates pronounced antibacterial effect. However, the questions related to the optimal concentration of silver in silicone that results in maximum antibacterial efficiency without harming human skin are still open. In the present work, synthesis of metallic silver powder from a mixture of micro- and nanoparticles was performed and composite samples based on silicone polymer with different silver concentrations were fabricated. The antibacterial properties of fabricated samples were studied using the microdilution method against gram-positive spore-forming bacteria Bacillus subtilis. The cytotoxic effect of the tested samples was evaluated on healthy human fibroblast cell (NAF1nor). Moreover, the effect of adding silver micro- and nanoparticles to silicone on its extensibility and hardness was studied. The results showed that the addition of silver has a noticeable effect on the antibacterial properties of silicone polymer reaching more than 50%. Furthermore, all tested silicone-silver composites were shown to be non-toxic. The presence of silver does not significantly affect the relative elongation of the samples. However, hardness increases with higher silver concentrations. In the final phase, prototypes of the silver-filled silicone prosthetic sleeve were fabricated for utilisation by the patient at the prosthetic-orthopaedic clinic. The testing of the prototype was successfully completed by the patient, thereby demonstrating practical functionality and suitability for clinical use.
假肢内衬或套筒下皮肤表面细菌生长的威胁是一个重要问题，它可能导致各种严重疾病，甚至需要反复截肢。解决这个问题的一个有前景的方法是使用抗菌材料作为内衬/套筒材料。其中，基于添加银颗粒的有机硅聚合物的复合材料可能是一种简单有效的解决方案，因为有机硅是假肢内衬和套筒的主要材料，而银具有显著的抗菌效果。然而，关于有机硅中银的最佳浓度，即在不损害人体皮肤的情况下实现最大抗菌效率的问题仍然没有答案。在本研究中，我们从微米和纳米颗粒混合物中合成了金属银粉，并制备了基于不同银浓度有机硅聚合物的复合材料样品。使用微量稀释法研究了制备样品对革兰氏阳性芽孢杆菌枯草芽孢杆菌的抗菌性能。在健康人成纤维细胞（NAF1nor）上评估了测试样品的细胞毒性作用。此外，还研究了向有机硅中添加银微米和纳米颗粒对其延展性和硬度的影响。结果表明，添加银对有机硅聚合物的抗菌性能有显著影响，抗菌率超过50%。此外，所有测试的有机硅-银复合材料均显示无毒。银的存在对样品的相对伸长率没有显著影响。然而，硬度随着银浓度的增加而增加。在最后阶段，制作了填充银的有机硅假肢套筒原型，供患者在假肢矫形诊所使用。患者成功完成了原型测试，从而证明了其实际功能和临床适用性。
