Figure 3.
Epitendinous ELAC suture contributed to mechanical stabilization significantly beyond that is provided by the core suture. (a) A comparison between 6-0 standard nylon suture and aligned collagen suture. (b) A lacerated flexor tendon of chicken is sutured with aligned collagen suture to demonstrate the feasibility of suturing. (c) Ultimate failure load of lacerated tendon with epitendinous collagen sutures is greater than that of the tendon repaired with only core nylon suture, and, significantly less than the tendon repaired by the epitendinous 6-0 nylon sutures. (d) Typical load-displacement curves of lacerated tendons sutured under different conditions (Scale bar: 10 mm).