Development of Antimicrobial Suture of Polypropylene : Use of high energy radiation

The present work is aimed at the development and polypropylene suture that can be used in surgical process as a suture. Monofilament of PP was spun and drawn. Its modification was carried out by the grafting vinylimidazole using simultaneous radiation grafting method. The effect of radiation dose, monomer concentration, and the grafting medium on the degree of grafting was evaluated. Grafted suture was characterized using several techniques, such as infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the grafts are confined to the amorphous region and the crystalline regions remain intact. The tenacity slightly decreases whereas the elongation increases with the increase in the degree of grafting. TGA study shows that the stability of the sutures is enhanced by the grafting process. These sutures have reasonably good water uptake. They are subsequently immobilized with an antimicrobial drug, ciprofloxacin. The modified suture releases the drug over a period of 4-5 days. The antimicrobial activity of the modified suture is determined against E. coli by the zone of inhibition technique.