Papers by Keyword: Suture

Abstract: This paper studied the irreversible plastic deformation of PVDF monofilament. The four-element creep model was applied to obtain the theoretical creep curves with experimental data using nonlinear regression. The results were compared to the commonly used material PP monofilament. The results showed that four-element model was a suitable model to describe the creep behavior of PVDF monofilament. PVDF monofilament exhibited reduced irreversible plastic deformation under different stresses and elongation rates. It was more stable and recoverable. PVDF could be an advantageous alternative suture material to the traditional suture materials.

Abstract: In orthopaedic surgery the reattachment of tendon to bone requires suture materials that have stable and durable properties to allow healing at the tendon-bone interface. Failure rates of this type of surgery can be as high as 25%. While the tissue suture interface is a weak link, proportions of these failures are caused by in-vivo abrasion of the suture with bone and suture anchor materials. Abrasion of the suture material results from the movement of the suture through the eyelet by the surgeon during surgery, or with limb movement after surgery as the suture is not rigidly restrained within the eyelet. During movement the suture is subjected to bending and frictional forces that can lead to fatigue induced failure. This paper investigates the mechanism of bending abrasion fatigue induced failure of number two grade braided sheath only and braided sheath/multifilament core sutures. Sutures were oscillated over a stainless steel wire at low frequency under load in a dry state to simulate the bending and frictional forces between suture and eyelet. Failure mechanism was determined by video microscopy of the suture during abrasion combined with optical microscopy analysis of partially and fully abraded sutures. Braided only structures had high friction loading on the small number of fibres at the abrasion interface. This caused rapid single fibre breakages that accumulate to cause suture failure. The addition of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene core fibres to a braided suture distributed the applied load across multiple fibres at the abrasion interface. This improved abrasion resistance by 15-20 times that of braided sheath alone.

Abstract: The paper reports about different kind of sutures, their suitability and performance. An ideal suture should possess many characteristics such as - easy to handle, bio-compatibility, minimal tissue reaction, resistance to bacterial growth, adequate tensile strength and elasticity, knot security, strength loss versus healing rate of tissues. Selection of suture is often very complex for satisfying host of physical, mechanical and biological properties, and fulfilling contradictory requirements in varied applications. The paper develops an understanding about the selection of suture depending on the varied requirement. Past research work pertaining to the development of suture as reported in this paper, provides insight about the suitability of different surgical sutures and possible direction of future research.