Development of an objective method for the assessment of nylon sutures knot security

Abstract

A perfect wound healing requires sutures having many handling characteristics such as good knot security and flexibility. Knot security characteristics are influenced by a variety of physical and mechanical parameters including the friction coefficient, bending rigidity and compressibility of the suture. Knot security and other handling characteristics are evaluated only by surgeons during the implantation. There are no standard tests to evaluate these qualities. We present in this paper an objective method to assess knot security of nylon sutures. This method is based on a fuzzy-logic model which correlates suture physical parameters and the knot security.

Keywords: Nylon braided sutures, handling characteristic, knot security, physical parameters, fuzzy-logic model