Scientists create surgical sutures to promote healing through electrical stimulation

The simple stitch plays a crucial role in surgery, holding an incision together while the tissue heals. Now scientists have created a type of suture that they say can speed up wound healing and reduce the risk of infection.

Researchers in China have created a suture that, when put under tension – as happens during exercise – electrically stimulates the wound.

Dr. Chengyi Hou, co-author of the study from Donghua University, said: “This electrical stimulation suture is a fully biodegradable and self-electrified material. It helps wound healing without any additional approaches, (such as) the use of external electrical devices.”

Electrical stimulation is known to promote wound healing through a number of mechanisms, including by stimulating the migration of cells into the area.

Writing in the journal Nature Communications the team reports how the new sutures are made from a core filament of magnesium wrapped with a biodegradable polymer. This is contained in a casing made from another biodegradable material.

The team conducted a series of experiments on suture, involving artificial muscle fibers and rats with wounds.

The results show that when the sutures are stretched and the core moves within the sheath, its components become electrically charged – this is the same process that takes place, for example, when a balloon is rubbed on hair.

“The suture generates electricity by creating opposite charges on the middle and outer shell of the suture when the muscles relax and contract, based on the triboelectric effect,” Hou said. “This generates an electric field at the wound site to accelerate wound healing.”

Although movement can strain and hinder the function of traditional sutures, it can be a benefit to the new sutures.

Through experiments in a petri dish, the team found that the rate at which cells migrated to the area around the sutures and multiplied increased when an electric field was present compared to when it was not, while electrical stimulation also reduced bacterial growth.

The researchers also conducted experiments on rats and found that cuts in their muscles held together with the new sutures healed faster than those sutured with regular bioabsorbable sutures, and contained fewer bacteria – something the team believes is important when reducing the risk of postoperative injuries. infections.

After 10 days, the wounds were almost completely healed – unlike when no sutures or other types of bioabsorbable stitches were used. “Tests on rats show that this suture can help wounds heal almost 50% faster, by creating an electric field through the natural movements of the object,” Hou said.

The team is conducting clinical trials to test the sutures in humans, adding that the new type of sutures have a similar cost to commercially absorbable sutures.

Dr. Karen Wright from Lancaster University, who was not involved in the work, said the novelty of the new sutures was that a charge was generated by movement.

“In this way, the benefits are twofold, as there is no need for an external electrical application or battery-powered systems and the material is degradable on site,” she said.