Evaluating Pull-Out Strength of Barbed Suture In Vitro by Using Porcine Tissue and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)

Abstract

Using barbed thread lifting for facial rejuvenation has become popular these days due to its minimally invasive procedures with reduced complications. However, only limited studies regarding its mechanical properties for face suspension were published. The aim of this study was to evaluate suture-holding ability regarding its facelift property, and different specimens were tested in order to establish an in vitro model. Fresh porcine tissue and the synthetic material polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were selected to simulate human skin for evaluating barbed suture pull-out strength by the universal material testing machine. The results showed that the pull-out strength of barbs between different porcine tissues varied without consistency. By contrast, PDMS (30:1) showed more consistent pull-out strength in each testing, and the average maximum load force was close to porcine tissue. Furthermore, after submerging barbed sutures in PBS for 0 days (T0), 7 days (T7) and 14 days (T14), a trend of decreased average maximum load force, displacement and force of 1.5 mm/2 mm/3 mm displacement could be detected by in vitro testing with PDMS (30:1). These results provide support for using PDMS (30:1) to evaluate suture pull-out strength and holding/lifting capacities in vitro to obtain consistent and objective information for evaluating substantial equivalence of devices. The established in vitro method could be used for the future development of barbed thread lifting technology.

Zigzag Barbed Polydioxanone Thread Implantation and Evaluation Using Polydimethylsiloxane Model to Simulate Thread Migration in Tissue

“…The previously established pull-out strength test method was shown to offer objective information for barbed sutures that could be applied to facelifts [16]. For current experimental geometries, destructive and nondestructive testing could be conducted.…”

“…The pull-out test was previously described [16]. In this study, the PDMS specimen inserted with the barbed thread was fixed in a universal testing machine (YM-H35, Yang Yi Technology Co., Ltd., Tainan, Taiwan).…”

“…The displacements of the threads are shown in Figure 6. When the barbed thread first grasped the PDMS specimen, the force increased during the pull-out test, indicating the increased holding capacity of the barbs [16]. When the curve deviated from the trend line, the thread dehooked the PDMS.…”

“…In this study, we designed an experiment to quantify the pull-out strength in vitro using different methods [16]. We used a thread with a zigzag barbed construction containing multiple barbs, a planar structure, and multiple grooves of specific sizes.…”