{"id":53539,"date":"2023-10-30T12:30:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T16:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/?p=53539"},"modified":"2023-10-30T20:25:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T00:25:34","slug":"nc-state-doctoral-student-developing-better-manufacturing-method-for-wound-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2023\/10\/nc-state-doctoral-student-developing-better-manufacturing-method-for-wound-closures\/","title":{"rendered":"NC State Doctoral Student Developing Better Manufacturing Method for Wound Closures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve ever gotten stitches or had surgery, you may have had a suture. They\u2019re the threads used to close wounds or join tissues together for other purposes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But did you know that there are different types of sutures which can have an effect on your experience at the doctor or surgeon\u2019s office? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbed sutures, for example, can reduce the amount of time you spend on the operating table and lower the likelihood of surgical complications. That type of suture has its roots in the Triangle and is being advanced by students and faculty at the Wilson College of Textiles<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Gregory Ruff, a nationally-renowned plastic surgeon, first invented the innovative closure in 1991, just down the road in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was thinking about the fact that we sew wounds together with a loop and a knot and if you tie it too tight, it can constrict the circulation and kill the tissue in that loop,\u201d Dr. Ruff remembers. \u201cI was thinking about animals, and a porcupine\u2019s quill came to mind. And the aha moment was, \u2018What if we put a quill on one side of the wound and another one on the other side of the wound, so there’s no loop: the barbs go in but they don’t come out?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Ph.D. student Karuna Nambi Gowri readies a suture for barbing in a Wilson College of Textiles lab. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the name suggests, barbed sutures have small projections shooting out of them that can latch onto tissues: think about barbed wire or a fishing hook. Those \u201cquills,\u201d or barbs, allow the suture to self-anchor. Since no knot is needed to secure the suture, the closure is faster, and the lack of knots and constricting loops promotes healing. This also allows surgeons to schedule more surgeries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after his aha moment, Dr. Ruff started his own company, Quill Medical, to fabricate these barbed sutures. While he had the medical expertise and a solid business partner, Dr. Ruff was looking for someone who could advise him in terms of the material makeup of the suture. The Wilson College\u2019s Biomedical Textile Research Group<\/a>, under the direction of Professor Martin King<\/a>, quickly proved to be the perfect partner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n