Resistance forces acting on suture needles

Understanding the resistance forces encountered by a suture needle during t issue penetration is important for the development of robotic surgical devi ces and virtual reality surgical simulators. Tensile forces applied to skin and tendon during suturing were measured. Fresh sheep achilles tendons wer e tensioned with a static load 4.9 N, 9.8 N or 19.6 N and sheepskin with 0. 98 N, 2.9 N or 4.9 N static load. A straight 2/0 cutting suture needle in s eries with a load cell on a materials testing machine penetrated the tissue at 90 degrees with a velocity of 1, 5 or 10 mm/s for each tissue tension ( n = 5). Continuous load versus displacement data was obtained and penetrati on load and stiffness were noted. The load versus displacement curve for sk in during needle penetration demonstrated two characteristic peaks, corresp onding to initial penetration and emergence of needle from the undersurface of the tissue. Increasing the tension within the tissue (skin and tendon) increased the amount of force required to penetrate the tissue with a sutur e needle (p < 0.05). Needle displacement rate did not affect the resistance to needle penetration (p < 0.05). This study provides a simple model for m easuring force-feedback during needle penetration of soft tissues and is a good starting point for future studies of the penetration resistance proper ties of human tissues. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.