Immediate Medicant Coating for Sutures With Sterile Storage Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for applying medicants to surgical sutures face challenges such as limited compatibility with certain medicants, especially biologics like proteins, and incompatibility with sterilization processes, leading to degradation or ineffective medicants, as well as shelf life and storage condition mismatches.
Innovation Solution
A system where sutures are coated with medicants immediately prior to installation by using a pierceable or frangible container containing a medicant solution, allowing contact within seconds to minutes, ensuring compatibility and avoiding prolonged exposure to sterilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sutures are pre-coated with medicinal compounds during manufacturing, then the compounds are available for immediate release, but the compounds degrade or lose potency during storage and handling
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepares the suture by applying a coating layer with embedded medicinal compounds and a protective barrier immediately before implantation, rather than pre-coating during manufacturing. This preliminary preparation maintains compound potency by avoiding long-term storage of coated sutures while still enabling immediate drug release when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
A protective barrier coating is applied over the medicinal compound layer to protect it from degradation during handling and storage. This intermediary barrier prevents direct exposure of the compound to environmental factors while allowing controlled release when the barrier is removed or breached at the implantation site.
2Reliability
If sutures are coated with medicinal compounds immediately before implantation, then compound potency is maintained, but the complexity of the surgical procedure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coating system is divided into separate functional layers: a base layer containing the medicinal compound and a separate protective barrier layer. This segmentation allows the compound to be stored in a stable, inactive state while enabling simple application of the barrier layer immediately before use, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective barrier coating is designed to be self-removing or self-breaching under physiological conditions (e.g., contact with bodily fluids, pH changes, or mechanical stress during surgery), eliminating the need for complex activation mechanisms or additional surgical steps to remove the barrier.
3Reliability
If a protective barrier is applied over medicinal compounds on sutures, then compound stability is improved, but the release of compounds is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The protective barrier is designed with specific physical or chemical parameters (e.g., pH sensitivity, solvent solubility, or mechanical strength) that change under physiological conditions. These parameter changes trigger automatic barrier breakdown or permeability increase, ensuring timely drug release without manual intervention while maintaining stability during storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier coating provides protection during the storage and handling period, then automatically transitions to a non-barrier state at a predetermined time or condition (e.g., upon contact with surgical site fluids or tissue), enabling the medicinal compound to release at the optimal moment without delay.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables effective delivery of medicants to sutures without altering their mechanical properties, extending shelf life, and ensuring compatibility with sterilization, while providing immediate medical benefits at the suture-tissue interface.
Implementation Method 1
the coating delivers the medicinal compound to surrounding tissue
Implementation Method 2
the coating delivers the medicinal compound to surrounding tissue
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 2D~2G
AI summary
The present invention relates to a suturing system, comprising: an elongated flexible suture having a connecting end attached to a needle and an opposing free end, said suture co-packaged with a pierceable container containing a medicant solution. The invention further relates to a suturing system, comprising: an elongated flexible suture having a connecting end attached to a needle and an opposing free end, said suture co-packaged with a wicking medicant transfer sponge and a frangible container containing a liquid. In some embodiments, the invention relates to a suturing system, comprising: an elongated flexible suture having a connecting end attached to a needle and an opposing free end, said suture co-packaged with a medicant transfer sponge, said system further comprising a medicant dispenser container with a liquid.