Maximum forces in tendon connections for the Kessler suture in the single-side sample experiment

The main objective of the all study was to assess the load capacity of a new implant device for knotless tendon anastomosis. During this series of experiments the load capacity of the traditional two-strand Kessler sutures (3-0 sutures) was examined. Tendons from fresh swine legs (commercially available) served as the biological material. All samples were subjected to a load-to-failure test in the single-side sample experiment (see figure 1). They were axially stretched with a constant elongation increase of 0.5 mm/s. The tests were conducted on the custom-designed TissueTester 1.0 (see figure 2).