Diamond’s crucial role in revealing pelvic mesh degradation
Sep 2, 2025
The devasting adverse effects caused by mesh implants have been well documented in the news and by pressure groups. Despite being used since the 1950s to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence, it has only been in the last decade that the scale of the problem has been realised.
In 2024, the Patient Safety Commissioner estimated that at least 10,000 women in England have experienced sometimes life-changing complications due to mesh implants. The campaign organisation Sling the Mesh has argued that this figure could be even higher, at around 40,000. The range of the complications include severe and chronic pain, infections, reduced mobility, and autoimmune issues, among many others. In 2018, the NHS restricted the use of mesh implants and are now only used as a last resort.
- Image: Emily Critchfield/Duke Health
Groundbreaking research conducted at Diamond has shown that the plastic polypropylene mesh begins to erode after only 60 days. The study, published in Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials investigates how the mesh degrades over time. The authors noted that the mesh has been used with beneficial results for abdominal repair. However, the assumption that what works well in one area of the body would work well in another completely failed in this instance.
The researchers from the University of Sheffield wanted to better understand how the body responds to mesh materials, with the aim create materials that avoid inflammation and tissue contraction, which would reduce patient distress.
The study looked at polypropylene mesh implanted in sheep, which share a similar pelvic anatomy to women. To investigate the effects, the mesh was explanted after 60 or 180 days for further analyses.
Researchers performed multiple analysis on these samples. First, scanning electron microscopy revealed that many cracks appear on the mesh after 180 days. The samples were also studied using X-ray tomography on the I13-2 beamline. X-ray tomography provides a significant advantage in this study as it allows for the visualisation of the overall 3D structure of the mesh and the distribution of surface particles in a non-destructive manner. This experiment confirmed the presence of particles on the surface of all groups, consistent with the observations from the scanning electron microscope.
The findings reveal progressive degradation: surface cracks appear by 60 days and intensify by 180 days, accompanied by oxidation, increased stiffness, and shedding of oxidised polypropylene particles into surrounding tissues.
The study documented the degradation of a material that has been implanted it thousands and thousands of women, and could help to explain the complications they experienced. It highlights the crucial need to find alternatives that are biocompatible and drive urgent innovation in safer products.
Details
Source
Farr N.T.H., Gregory D.A., Workman V.L., et al. (2024) Evidence of time dependent degradation of polypropylene surgical mesh explanted from the abdomen and vagina of sheep. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 160, 106722. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2024.106722
Diamond instrument and proposal number
Beamtime at the I13-2 beamline was used (proposal MG33034-1)
Diamond taxonomy categories
Subject areas: biomaterials, biomedical engineering, life Science and biotech.
Techniques: imaging, tomography
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