The Patenting and Technological Trends in Hernia Implants (2008-2018).

Described as a projection (prolapse) of tissue through a fascial defect in the abdominal wall, hernias are associated with significant rates of complications, recurrence and reoperations. This literature review is aimed at providing an overview of the prosthetic surgical meshes used for the repairing of hernia defects. The review was carried out using two specialized online databases: Espacenet, from the European Patent Office (EPO); and WIPO from the World Intellectual Property Organization. Of the 56 patents selected from 2008 to 2018, China was the largest contributor with 55% (31 patents) of the total patent applicant filings, followed by the United States of America (USA), with 29% (16 patents). Although the majority of patent applications (38 documents) had at least one company (Iindustry) assigned to the patent application, 4 patents were soley from academic research. Our data showed that although 23 industry applicants have patented their product, only 13 of them have had their products included in the market. The majority of meshes available on the market are still made from polypropylene. Chemical, physical and mesh surface modifications have been implemented, and a few reviews describing mesh design, composition and mechanical properties are available. However, to date, the ideal mesh implant from a clinical point of view has not been developed.