Translation of a rapid integrated tendon repair system

The incidence rate of hand tendon injuries is 28 per 100,000 per annum. Flexor tendon injuries account for ~40% hand tendon injuries and many patients suffer from multiple tendon injuries. Flexor tendon injuries predominantly affect working-aged young males involving manual labour. Hand tendon injuries can be severely disabling, which requires a rehabilitation time of 12 weeks. On average, a single flexor tendon repair costs £1330, and its associated rehabilitation and societal costs due to absence from work are estimated to be around £15,000.
Some of these tendons in particular are very challenging to repair due to muscle contraction, which leads to the severed tendon end retracting further into the host tissue. At present, retrieving the severed proximal tendon is very difficult without damaging the surrounding structures, which often leads to adhesion formation and thus limited functional outcome. Tendon injuries are predominantly repaired with sutures; and there has been limited progress in tendon repair techniques. It has been shown that suture repairs lead to high stress areas on tendon tissue which cause cell death and scar formation. Flexor tendon repair remains an unmet need as only 75% repairs achieve a satisfactory functional result with an 11% reoperation rate.