To date, there is still a lack of understanding of how wound closure methods perform comparatively under daily bodily movement during the course of healing and how they affect the mechanics of healing. The present study is a first step in understanding and objectively quantifying the gap. The study provides both a new method of metrology for noninvasive evaluation of skin mechanics at the onset of wound healing and an emerging tape-based wound closure technology. The latter shows better performance with respect to commonly used staples and sutures, holding the wound intact and providing uniform mechanical support across the incision.

There remains a lack of understanding of how wound closure methods perform comparatively when exposed to patient-induced movement during healing and how they may contribute to bacterial infiltration in the wound site. The present study attempts to objectively quantify this gap. The study evaluates bacterial penetration and subsequent symptoms of infection of traditional sutures and an emerging tape-based, zip-type wound closure technology under physiologically relevant loading. In an in vivo model to simulate real-world conditions, the latter demonstrates better performance compared to commonly used sutures, holding the wound intact and minimizing bacterial penetration when subjected to simulated patient movement-induced stress.