Materials Engineering Research

Ethicon Coated Vicryl absorbable sutures of different diameters were studied in order to determine if a relationship exists between the load and measured clearance. A prototype was designed to simulate knot location. Tensile tests were conducted on the suture knots followed by clearance measurements after each load level was applied. From the results it was concluded that the measured clearance was directly proportional to the amount of load applied to the suture knot. Also, based on the diameter of the suture, the smaller the diameter, the lower was the total displacement of the knot or the clearance.

This article was prepared from a project assigned in a graduate class, BME 7371, Failure Assessment of Medical Devices, taught at Wright State University by the senior author. The device was donated for the study which was successfully retrieved after 93 days in-vivo. Even-though the mechanical integrity of the device held in-tact, the microscopic observations revealed that the damage via corrosion and scratching took place on the surface of the device. The image reconstructed in 3D using image-J software to determine device roughness and depth-of-pits. Results presented in this paper show that damage starts developing in these devices after the implantation that resulted in premature failure in many cases as reported in the media and literature.