Surgical element
AssigneeA. W. Showell (Surgicraft) Limited
InventorsDavid J. Moorse, Angus E. Strover
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A surgical element (1), such as a suture or a replacement for a ligament, comprises a core (2) consisting of a multiplicity of flexible filaments, such as fine carbon fibres, and partial sheathing (3) formed of standard implantable grade polymer, such as a polyester, in at least two groups (3X, 3Y) totalling less in width than the circumference of the core and interwoven in contra-rotation so that areas (4) of the core are exposed at frequent intervals, to encourage penetration and ingrowth of fresh tissue between the core filaments.
Claims9
A surgical element comprising a core consisting of a multiplicity of flexible filaments and partial sheathing therefor formed of filaments of at least one standard implantable grade polymer distributed in at least two groups of a width such that the aggregate of their widths is less than the circumference of the core, the groups of sheathing filaments being interwoven with contra-rotation about the core so that areas of the core filaments are exposed at frequent intervals along the length of the element so as to promote penetration and ingrowth of tissue between the core filaments.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.