Thin, flexible sensors and actuators as 'instrumented' surgical sutures for targeted wound monitoring and therapy.

Sutures are among the simplest and most widely used devices in clinical medicine. All existing synthetic and natural forms use thread-like geometries, as purely passive, mechanical structures that are fl exible and resilient to tensile stress. Several recent reports describe strategies to incorporate advanced functionality into this platform through the employment of shape-memory polymers that offer mechanical actuation or through the release of bioresorbable compounds that carry growth factors and antibiotics to accelerate healing. [ 1–3 ]

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