UK surgeons and scientists are being encouraged to enter a global competition to discover new materials and techniques which could lead to cutting edge advances in wound closure.

The prestigious ‘Futures of Sutures’ competition has been launched by global health care company B. Braun to mark the centenary of its introduction of the first, industrially manufactured sterile surgical sutures.

A hundred years ago doctors still stitched wounds with sutures made from sheep gut. Although there have been major technological and medical advances the competition aims to uncover breakthrough
ideas for the benefit of patients in the 21st century.

Hans Hux, Chief Executive Officer of B. Braun Medical, which has its UK headquarters in Sheffield, said: “In 2008, we will celebrate a century of industrially manufactured sterile sutures.

“The Futures Of Sutures competition will help to give fresh impetus to innovation in this field, creating a platform for interdisciplinary exchange on surgical wound-closure techniques and to find and foster new perspectives in this key area of surgery.

“We are looking to push back the boundaries of the possible, to encourage the development of pioneering solutions for surgical wound closure.”

The Future of Sutures competition will attract entries from around 30 countries, both individuals and teams. It is hoped these will come from all areas of medicine and surgery as well as scientific and academic research and development.

Entries are now open for the national stage of the competition with prizes being awarded to the winner in each participating country. The deadline for UK entries is February 29, 2008 and all national winners will automatically qualify for the second international stage.

The overall winner will be announced next December and will receive prize money of 100,000 euros. Awards of 50,000 and 25,000 euros will go to the second and third placed entries.

At both stages, the ideas will be evaluated by an independent panel of judges which will include representatives from competition patrons the Royal College of Surgeons of  England, the German Surgical Society and the European Federation of Biotechnology.

Questions entrants may look at include: Does the world of nature hold any answers for the development of new suture materials? Are there “smart materials” that can “think” and adapt to their situation? Are knot-free sutures possible? Does a suture necessarily have to consist of two parts (metal needle, thread) and could surgeons forgo needles in wound closure entirely?
  
Bill Thomas Chairman of Education at the Royal College of Surgeons of England said: “For centuries surgeons have inflicted wounds upon their patients and sutures have been the mainstay of wound reconstruction and healing. We have therefore been highly motivated to support The Future of Sutures competition because we believe that this will result in high quality research resulting in the development of more effective and efficient methods of wound closure which can only be to the benefit of our patients’ clinical care.”