Surgical sutures are critical products for surgery, and they are used in almost every surgical intervention. To produce a safe and reliable surgical suture, a good connection and bonding between needle and thread is a must. But for multifilament surgical sutures, passing the thread into the drilled end suture is a process difficulty. To overcome this difficulty, the operator first must stiffen the tip of the thread to make it whole. So, it is possible to out it through the hole, and then crimp it with crimping tools. There two main techniques developed in Suture industry to overcome this difficulty.
1. Heat tipping
2. Glue tipping
There are numerous features for these techniques, both of which has advantages and disadvantages.
In the comparison, the higher stability in the diameters provide less scrap rates in the attachment (crimping) process. The table below shows the scrap rate difference between heat tipping and glue tipping process for various products.
The microscopic view of the tipped suture can be seen below. Since the polymers used in suture industry are thermoplastic, the heat does not cause any chemical change in the polymer itself. So, it can be safely used in the process.
In conclusion, heat tipping is a higher technology, but needs more investment cost. But the suture manufacturers are preferring to use heat tipping because of the numerous advantages. But it seems that these two techniques, will be used together in the industry for different requirements of the companies for many years more.
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