Systems, devices and methods for consistently and uniformly measuring the diameters of sutures

A system for measuring the diameter of a suture comprising:

• a test bench including a left end plate and a right end plate assembly and front and rear guide rails that extend between said left end plate and said right end plate assembly, wherein said front and rear guide rails have respective longitudinal axes that are parallel to one another;
• a first suture clamping assembly slidably mounted to said front and rear guide rails;
• a second suture clamping assembly fixed to an upper end of said right end plate assembly;
• a suture diameter gauge slidably mounted to said front and rear guide rails;
• a rotatable bar coupled with said first and second suture clamping assemblies for simultaneously rotating said first and second suture clamping assemblies on an axis between a first position and a second position that defines a right angle with the first position;
• and
• a suture tensioning assembly coupled with a linear slide and said second suture clamping assembly, wherein said first suture clamping assembly is configured to slide over both said front and rear guide rails and said rotatable bar for adjusting a distance between said first suture clamping assembly and said second suture clamping assembly, and wherein said suture diameter gauge is configured to slide over said front and rear guide rails for obtaining suture diameter measurements at different points between said first and second suture clamping assemblies.

A method of measuring the diameter of a suture comprising:

• securing a first end of a suture to a first suture clamping assembly;
• securing a second end of said suture to a second suture clamping assembly;
• applying tension to said suture through one of said first and second suture clamping assemblies, wherein said suture under tension lies in an axis that extends from said first suture clamping assembly to said second suture clamping assembly;
• locating a suture diameter gauge at a first point along a length of said suture;
• using said suture diameter gauge to obtain a first diameter measurement for said suture at the first point along the length of said suture;
• while continuing to apply the tension to said suture, simultaneously rotating said first and second suture clamping assemblies on the axis by 90 degrees between a first position and a second position, which, in turn, rotates said suture on the axis by 90 degrees between the first and second positions;
• using said suture diameter gauge to obtain a second diameter measurement for said suture at the first point along the length of said suture, wherein the first and second diameter measurements at the first point along the length of said suture are at a right angle relative to one another.