DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF SURGICAL SUTURE MATERIALS
The paper evaluates the quality and suggests methods for determining the smoothness and stiffness of surgical suture materials (threads). The smoothness of the thread was estimated by the magnitude of the sliding force on a metal cylinder and a cylinder covered with pigskin. When assessing the smoothness of the materials, it was revealed that the braided samples are smoother. The strength of various types of nodes of surgical threads was determined. The tests were carried out before and after holding the threads in a moist fatty environment. It was revealed that wet fat treatment leads to an increase in the rigidity of surgical suture materials, which affects their manipulative and strength properties. A program has been developed to select the optimal type of surgical node depending on the stiffness of the thread, which will help surgeons in choosing a thread for operations.