Bamboo-inspired lightweight tape suture with hollow and porous structure for tendon repair

Solid-structure tape sutures have been developed and used widely in tendon repair for their inhibitory action on the suture pull-out through the tendon. However, the massive body without a porous structure of the tape suture results in the inferior integration with the host tissue leading to poor recovery. Herein, inspired by the hollow structure of bamboo, we reported a simple strategy to fabricate the tape suture with hollow and porous structure via triaxial braiding combined with melting technology. The mass and cut-through tendon distance of the tape suture with unique structure decreased by 36% and 61%, respectively, compared to commercial USP No.2 PET suture for tendon repair clinically. The unique structural design also rendered the tape suture architectural stability, a large force of suture pull-out through tendon, good mechanical performance and handling property. Moreover, the cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility of the tape sutures were confirmed as well. A highly attractive combination of properties makes the hollow and porous tape sutures have huge potential for application in tendon repair. This study may also provide new insights into the design of hollow, porous, and lightweight tape suture with a controllable structure to obtain the improved therapeutic effect of tendon repair.