In Vivo Efficacy Study Showing Comparative Advantage of Bacterial Infection Prevention with Zip-type Skin Closure Device vs. Subcuticular Sutures.

There remains a lack of understanding of how wound closure methods perform comparatively when exposed to patient-induced movement during healing and how they may contribute to bacterial infiltration in the wound site. The present study attempts to objectively quantify this gap. The study evaluates bacterial penetration and subsequent symptoms of infection of traditional sutures and an emerging tape-based, zip-type wound closure technology under physiologically relevant loading.

Mechanics of Wound Closure: Emerging Tape-Based Wound Closure Technology vs. Traditional Methods.

To date, there is still a lack of understanding of how wound closure methods perform comparatively under daily bodily movement during the course of healing and how they affect the mechanics of healing. The present study is a first step in understanding and objectively quantifying the gap. The study provides both a new method of metrology for noninvasive evaluation of skin mechanics at the onset of wound healing and an emerging tape-based wound closure technology.

Use of a flexible robotic transgastric natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) platform in a cadaver to test access, navigation, maneuverability, and stability.

Background: The advancement of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) depends on the availability of a suitable platform. A 2008 Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research (NOSCAR) Working Group identified access, navigation, maneuverability, and stability to withstand instrument forces as the essential requirements for a successful NOTES platform [1]. No single NOTES platform can adequately achieve all four of these key capabilities.