Abstract:
The repair of injuries to tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissue is performed in hospitals every day. The standard method of tendon repair involves bringing the edges of the severed tendon in contact and suturing them together. Generally, both a core stitch and an epitenon stitch are used. The core stitch provides strength and the epitenon holds the edges in very close proximity, to facilitate healing. Currently, the stitches are performed by hand by a surgeon, and perform very well. This goal of this project was to design a tool to automatically suture, in order to speed up the process, and to provide a high degree of reproducibility and resolution. RESULTS: A machine was designed, using the Autodesk Inventor software for drafting. The initial design accounted for only an epitenon stitch. Preliminary work was performed on construction of a scaled-up model of the machine. Although a testable model has not been completed, the major mechanical impediments have been solved. CONCLUSION: A working model can be constructed from the completed design. It will perform with great fidelity and speed the tiny stitches required to repair a severed flexor tendon. More work is required to discover the ideal materials for all parts, as well as to build a testable model. Once a model is available, a study can be performed to compare repaired tendon strength with a tendon repaired by hand.
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