Covidien, U. Missouri Collaborate on Hernia-Surgery Research

Earlier this month, Covidien granted the University of Missouri-Columbia's School of Medicine $750,000 to come up with safer hernia-surgery procedures that could result in easier recovery for patients. The funds will help develop a materials characterization laboratory, where researchers will study materials typically implanted during procedures to repair abdominal hernias. Surgeons currently use a 50-year-old procedure in which propylene mesh is inserted to patch the hernia.