# Antigate Melt-Electrowritten Biodegradable Mesh Implants for Enhanced Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair
## 3 Results
### PCL/HT Meshes: Fabrication and Testing
#### 3.3.2 Uniaxial Tensile Testing  
**Influence of HT concentration on the meshes' behavior under load**  
For each concentration and mesh geometry, seven samples were tested. From the resulting stress-strain data, mean values were calculated and used to generate the stress-strain curves shown in Figure 6 for the square (A) and sinusoidal (B) meshes, respectively. The vaginal tissue curve was obtained from [PERSON] et al. [38]. To correctly analyze these results, it is necessary to introduce two terms, comfort zone and safety zone, which are associated with the expected strains experienced by the vaginal tissue. The comfort zone pertains to stresses encountered during daily activities and has a maximum value of 20% strain. The safety zone relates to high-stress peaks and is set with a threshold of up to 40% strain [16]. The following results will focus only on the comfort zone. By analyzing Figure 6, it is evident that the pore geometry of the meshes affects both their behavior and the maximum load they can support. From Figure 6B, it can be inferred that the sinusoidal mesh best mimics the mechanical behavior of vaginal tissue, particularly the control mesh, which withstands comparable stress levels up to a strain of 0.15. However, when considering higher strain values, native tissue can support greater stress values. Thus, the slope of the vaginal tissue curve is steeper than that of the control mesh, indicating that the tissue is stiffer than the mesh. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Square Meshes**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Sinusoidal Meshes**} \\ \hline  & **Mean Diameter (\(\upmu\)m)** & **Reduction (\%)** & **Mean Diameter (\(\upmu\)m)** & **Reduction (\%)** \\ \hline Control (0 wt\%) & 281.30 & - & 273.62 & - \\ \hline
0.03 wt\% & 234.04 & 16.80 & 234.05 & 14.46 \\
0.06 wt\% & 153.92 & 45.28 & 165.35 & 39.57 \\
0.1 wt\% & 98.41 & 65.02 & 95.07 & 65.26 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Diameter evaluation of all wt% samples and calculation of the reduction of the fiber. Another conclusion from the graphics is that the load-bearing capacity is also influenced by fiber diameter, meaning that thicker fibers can support higher stress. An individual analysis of each graph confirms that this trend holds across all geometries. This relationship is further supported by the findings in Table 6, which show that as fiber diameter decreases, the stress required to induce a specific deformation also decreases. This behavior is attributed to the increased surface area-to-volume ratio of thinner fibers, which makes them more sensitive to external forces. Table 6 presents the maximum stress each mesh can support, referred to as tensile strength. The results confirm a reduction in tensile strength as the fiber diameter decreases, which is caused by an increase in HT concentration. Figure 6: The stress–strain curve of the square (**A**) and sinusoidal (**B**) meshes, from all concentrations, and the uniaxial stress–strain response of the vaginal tissue. **HT concentration influence on the meshes' mechanical properties**  
To assess whether the antistatic agent alters the properties of pure PCL, the obtained curves (PCL/HT) could be compared with those obtained from pure PCL meshes as long as they have similar diameters and the same geometry (Figure 7). The curves available for PCL meshes were obtained from [38], being the square meshes made of medical-grade PCL, with diameters of 240 and 160 and a pore size of 1.5 mm. It was not possible to compare the curve of the 0.1 wt% mesh (98.41 um) because its diameter did not closely match any available curve. Based on the results of the uniaxial tensile tests, the stiffness and tensile strength of the meshes were calculated and are presented in Figure 7B. By comparing the 0.03 wt% curve with the 240 um one, it would be expected that the pure PCL mesh would support a higher load and thus have a greater tensile strength, as its diameter is larger than that of the PCL/HT mesh.