PRODUCTION OF HIGH STRENGTH BI-ABSORBABLE SUTURE BY EXTRUSION OF COPOLYMER AT TEMPERATURE CLOSED TO OR RELATIVELY LOWER THAN COPOLYMER MELTING POINT AT INITIAL STAGE AND THEN EXTENDING EXPOSURE TIME OF FILAMENTS TO TEMPERATURE HIGHER THAN FILAMENT MELTING POINT AT LAST STAGE AND SUTURE PRODUCED THEREBY

摘要

A PGA/PLA copolymer suture fiber having a fiber tenacity of between approximately 7.2 to 8.0 grams per denier and a fiber elongation between approximately 22% and 35% is produced by a process that utilizes extruder apparatus having at least one heated zone that is maintained at a temperature of from about 20° C. below the copolymer melting point to about 5° C. above the copolymer melting point, a metering pump and a heated block that are maintained at a temperature of no more than about 40° C. above the copolymer melting point, a spinneret that is maintained at a temperature of from about 40° C. to about 60° C. above the copolymer melting point, and an elongated heated sleeve extending between six and twenty inches from the spinneret that is maintained at a temperature of at least about 60° C. above the copolymer melting point.