Advanced Technologies and Polymer Materials for Surgical Sutures

Dr. Sabu Thomas (Ph.D.) is the Director of the School of Energy Materials, School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of Mahatma Gandhi University, India. He received his Ph. D. in 1987 in Polymer Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, and a member of the American Chemical Society. He has been ranked no.1 in India about the number of publications (most productive scientists). Prof. Thomas’s research group specialized areas of polymers which includes Polymer blends, Fiber filled polymer composites, Particulate-filled polymer composites and their morphological characterization, Ageing and degradation, Pervaporation phenomena, sorption and diffusion, Interpenetrating polymer systems, Recyclability and reuse of waste plastics and rubbers, Elastomer cross-linking, Dual porous nanocomposite scaffolds for tissue engineering, etc. Prof. Thomas’s research group has extensive exchange programs with different industries, research, and academic institutions all over the world and is performing world-class collaborative research in various fields. Professors Centre is equipped with various sophisticated instruments and has established state-of-the-art experimental facilities which cater to the needs of researchers within the country and abroad. His H Index- 133, Google Citations- 86424, Number of Publications- 1300, and Books-160.Professor of Polymer Engineering, Director, Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Polymer Science and Technology, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK Ben currently leads the RKT Centre for Polymer Micro and Nano Technology based at the University of Bradford which provides a key resource for industry working to bring micro and nano scale components to market, alongside internationally recognised pioneering academic research in the field. Blessy Joseph is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. She earned degrees in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Kerala, India, including a master’s focused on Molecular Medicine. She later pursued her PhDin the same field at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. Her research focuses on nanotechnology, drug delivery systems, biomaterials, and polymer nanocomposites for tissue engineering. Dr Nair graduated from Bharathi Vidyapeeth College of Pharmacy (India) with a Bachelor Degree in Pharmacy and he gained a PGDip in pharmacology from Nottingham Trent University. He also has an MSc in drug delivery from Aston University, Birmingham. In 2014 he completed his PhD in Pharmaceutical Engineering from Polymer IRC, University of Bradford and since then he is working as a Post-Doctoral Researcher on Healthcare Impact Partnership project on Smart Manufacturing of Medical Devices for soft tissue fixation (e.g. rotator cuff and anterior cruciate ligament repairs; fixations for fracture (including intramedullary nails) and knee joint replacements). The aim of this collaborative project is to exploit unique capabilities in shape memory polymers and biomaterials for enhanced biomedical cementless fixations using controlled shape reversion, in clinically relevant timescales, and open up opportunities for new solutions in orthopaedic repairs, which will have a defined route to regulatory certification and a clear patent pathway.

• 1. Introduction to biopolymers for surgical suture applications2. Functionalization of sutures3. Improving the therapeutic value of sutures4. Evaluating the mechanical properties of sutures5. Polymers for surgical sutures6. Smart sutures7. Bioactive sutures: advances in surgical suture functionalization8. Engineering aspects of suture fabrication9. Revisiting the properties of suture materials: an overview10. Suture materials, emerging trends11. Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity of polymer sutures12. Shape memory polymers as sutures13. Drug release kinetics of sutures