Disposable Suturing Tool Guides Stitches Placement

The FastStitch device, developed by a team of biomedical engineering students at Johns Hopkins University (JHU; Baltimore, MD, USA), is a prototype hand-sized, pliers-like, mechanical suturing device that improves the safety and overall quality of abdominal closure by improving the way surgeons stitch together the strongest part of the abdomen, the muscle layer called the fascia, which is located just below the patient’s skin. The device also protects the needle from accidentally puncturing the internal organs.

To operate the FastStitch, the fascial layer is positioned between the top and bottom arms of the device; as the arms are closed, the spring-loaded clamp is strong enough to punch the needle through the fascial layer. The needle then moves from one arm of the tool to the other. The device also features a visual guide to help ensure that the stitches are placed evenly, located the proper distance away from the incision, and apart from one another. The disposable prototype was constructed mostly of ABS plastic, making it inexpensive to manufacture and discard.

“We’re developing the future of suture,” said team leader Sohail Zahid, BSc, who has applied to the JHU MD/PhD program in biomedical engineering. “We believe that if the FastStitch tool is used to close abdominal incisions, it will help in three important ways: It will help surgeons by making the closure process simpler and safer. It will help hospitals by reducing costs. And, most importantly, it will help patients by reducing postoperative complications.”

“Just about every major operation in the chest and abdomen requires a large cut to be made through the muscle layers,” said Hien Nguyen, MD, an assistant professor of surgery at JHU who served as the students’ clinical advisor during the development of FastStitch. “If these layers are not brought back together evenly, complications can occur. This device allows the surgeon to bring the muscle layers back together evenly, safely and quickly, and this can lead to better outcomes and fewer complications.”

The students have formed a company, Archon Medical Technologies (Baltimore, MD, USA), to conduct further research and development of FastStitch. The company is being supported by grant funding and prize money won in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME; New York, NY, USA) International Innovation Showcase contest and several business plan contests in 2012. Animal testing of the device is under way, and further testing with human cadavers is expected to begin later this year.

Related Links:
Johns Hopkins University
Archon Medical Technologies
ASME