A bioabsorbable microclip for laryngeal microsurgery: design and evaluation.

Epithelial flaps created during laryngeal microsurgery require apposition to facilitate proper healing. Current technologies are restricted by minimal access of the surgical site, posing various limitations in application. In this paper, we propose a novel magnesium-based bioabsorbable microclip, discuss our design considerations and evaluate the microclip's feasibility as a miniature wound closure device. Ex vivo experiments demonstrate that the microclip fastens securely to the vocal fold, while in vivo studies show bioabsorbability and a lack of adverse side effects, suggesting that the microclips are viable as implantable devices.

Design of a mechanical larynx with agarose as a soft tissue substitute for vocal fold applications.

Mechanical and computational models consisting of flow channels with convergent and oscillating constrictions have been applied to study the dynamics of human vocal fold vibration. To the best of our knowledge, no mechanical model has been studied using a material substitute with similar physical properties to the human vocal fold for surgical experimentation. In this study, we design and develop a mechanical larynx with agarose as a vocal fold substitute, and assess its suitability for surgical experimentation. Agarose is selected as a substitute for the vocal fold as it exhibits similar nonlinear hyperelastic characteristics to biological soft tissue. Through uniaxial compression and extension tests, we determined that agarose of 0.375% concentration most closely resembles the vocal fold mucosa and ligament of a 20-year old male for small tensile strain with an R(2) value of 0.9634 and root mean square error of 344.05±39.84 Pa. Incisions of 10 mm lengthwise and 3 mm in depth were created parallel to the medial edge on the superior surface of agar phantom. These were subjected to vibrations of 80, 130, and 180 Hz, at constant amplitude of 0.9 mm over a period of 10 min each in the mechanical larynx model. Lateral expansion of the incision was observed to be most significant for the lower frequency of 80 Hz. This model serves as a basis for future assessments of wound closure techniques during microsurgery to the vocal fold.