LIFTING THREAD WITH STRETCHABLE VARIABLE PORTION

Abstract

A suture thread for use in a lifting procedure according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: fixed portions composed of non-stretchable medical thread, wherein the medical thread is formed on both sides thereof and is fixed to the skin; and a variable portion that is positioned between the fixed portions and imparts structural elasticity, wherein the fixed portions and the variable portions are connected continuously, without a separate connecting structure, to form a single integrated medical thread.

Claims

1. A suture thread for a lifting procedure, which is formed to be divided into a first region and a second region in a longitudinal direction, wherein the first region includes a fixed part having a fixing groove formed with an inclined jaw at an acute angle (“acute angle jaw”) on an outer periphery of the suture thread so that the fixed part penetrates into a subcutaneous tissue of a person to be treated (“subject”) and then is fixed therein, and wherein the second region includes a variable part having structural elasticity, which has flexible grooves formed alternately in a zig-zag form on opposite sides of the outer periphery of the suture thread, whereby a connection portion between the flexible grooves of the variable part is stretched when an external force is applied, thereby imparting elasticity to the suture thread.

2. The suture thread according to claim 1, wherein the fixing groove having the acute angle jaw is formed between the variable parts in the second region so as to penetrate into the subcutaneous tissue of the subject and then to be secured therein.

3. The suture thread according to claim 1 wherein the fixing groove has a non-symmetric structure including an inclined jaw at an acute angle to the inclined surface.

4. The suture thread according to claim 3, wherein a concave bent groove is formed at a position spaced in the rear of the acute angle jaw of the fixing groove, so that, when the acute angle jaw penetrates into the subcutaneous tissue of the subject, the jaw is bent and rotated to thus further protrude in the outer peripheral direction of the suture thread, which in turn is firmly secured while penetrating deeper into the subcutaneous tissue of the subject.

5. The suture thread according to claim 1, wherein the variable part has a spring shape formed by cutting out the suture thread such that the variable part is continued in a longitudinal direction of the suture thread.

6. The suture thread according to claim 1, wherein a depth h of the flexible groove is larger than a linear distance H from the center of the suture thread to the outer periphery thereof.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional suture thread for a lifting procedure.

[0020] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a medical (suture) thread for a lifting procedure, which includes a first region and a second region, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 3 is an enlarge view the second region in which a variable part 300 and a fixed part 200 are included.

[0022] FIG. 4 is an enlarge view of the first region in which the fixed part 200 is included.

[0023] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the first region of the suture thread for a lifting procedure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0024] 100: Suture thread for for a lifting procedure according to the present invention. [0025] 110: First region [0026] 120: Second region [0027] 130: Fixing groove [0028] 140: Inclined surface of the fixing groove [0029] 150. Inclined jaw at acute angle of the fixing groove [0030] 160: Flexible groove [0031] 200: Fixed part [0032] 300: Variable part

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF INVENTION

[0033] Hereinafter, before describing preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail, terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to conventional or dictionary meanings, instead, should be interpreted as having the meanings and concepts consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

[0034] Throughout the present specification, when a certain part “includes” a component, it means that other components may be further included rather than excluding the same unless specifically stated to the contrary.

[0035] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following preferred embodiments, and those skilled in the art may implement various modified forms of the contents described in the present specification within the scope of the present invention.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, the suture thread for a lifting procedure, that is, a medical thread for a lifting procedure according to the present invention may include: a first region 110 in which a plurality of fixed parts 200 are repeatedly formed; and a second region 120 in which fixed parts 200 and variable parts 300 are formed alternately and repeatedly.

[0037] Each of the fixed parts 200 formed in the first region 110 and a part of the second region 120 may include a fixing groove 130 that is concave on an outer periphery of the suture thread, wherein the fixing groove 130 is preferably formed with an asymmetrical structure including an inclined surface 140 and an inclined jaw 150 at an acute angle (“an acute angle jaw”) (see FIG. 4).

[0038] The acute angle jaw 150 formed on one side of the fixing groove 130 may be a sharp jaw inclined at an acute angle of less than 90°, so that the acute angle jaw can penetrate into a body tissue and may serve as an anchor to secure the tissue during the medical procedure.

[0039] Further, in the second region 120, a variable part including U-shaped or V-shaped flexible grooves may be formed in a zig-zag manner on both sides of the suture thread so that, when an external force is applied, a connection portion between the flexible grooves may be stretched like a spring to thus have structural elasticity. Further, the fixing groove having the acute angle jaw may be formed between the variable parts, and may serve to firmly secure the body tissue while penetrating the same at the lifting portion.

[0040] Further, it should be noted that, in some cases, the first region and the second region may be repeatedly aligned in this order in the longitudinal direction of the suture thread; otherwise, another configuration consisting of at least one or more first and second regions, for example, a first region, a second region and then another first region, may also be implemented, therefore, both of the above configurations may fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0041] Moreover, when the first region having a fixing groove is provided on both sides of the second region having the variable part, the second region may be provided only with the variable part while the fixing groove may be formed only in the first region.

[0042] The acute angle jaw 150 formed on one side of the fixing groove 200 may be prepared through ultrasonic or microfine cut processing on the outer periphery of the suture thread.

[0043] Further, the suture thread is usually made of a non-elastic material. In some cases, even if the suture thread is made of an elastic material, the first region has a fixed part without a variable structure while the second region may include a variable part having a variable structure. Both of the above configurations may be implemented in the present invention since these can achieve the purposes of the present invention such as prevention of pain and thread breakage.

[0044] FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate a linear yarn having a circular cross-section as an example, however, a yarn having a non-circular cross-sectional shape may also be possible in order to increase a surface area and to more effectively form protrusions. Such non-circular cross-sections may be formed in any shape of oval, triangle, square, parallelepiped, trapezoid, rhomboid, pentagon, hexagon, crosses, and the like. Such a yarn as the suture thread is typically manufactured by cutting a polymer filament formed through extrusion in a die having a circular cross-section. Therefore, it is possible to alter the cross-section of the extrusion die into desired and specific cross-sectional shapes, so that a suture thread having a non-circular cross-section can also be manufactured.

[0045] The suture thread (yarn) used in the present invention may be made of a material such as polydioxanone (PDO), polylacic acid (PLA) or polyglycolide (PGA), which are biodegradable polymers.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 3, a depth h of the elastic groove 160 formed in the variable part 300 may be larger than a linear distance H from the center of the yarn used for manufacturing the suture thread for a lifting procedure to the outer periphery thereof.

[0047] In the variable part 300, as described above, a plurality of V-shaped or U-shaped bents or grooves may be formed in such a manner that the bents or grooves are alternately arranged in the left and right direction so as to alternate in the left/right or up/down directions along the longitudinal direction. Such an alternating structure may impart structural elasticity to a non-stretchable suture thread.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 3, with regard to the second region 120 of the suture thread for a lifting procedure according to the present invention, a variable part 30 provided with V-shaped or U-shaped flexible grooves alternating in the left and right directions may be present between a pair of fixed parts 200, and such basic repeating units U of the variable part 300 may be included in plural.

[0049] In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, a bent groove 160 for releasing the supporting force of the acute angle jaw may be formed at a site spaced apart from the rear of the fixing groove 130 by a predetermined distance so that, when the acute angle jaw penetrates into the body tissue, it is bent and rotated in the direction of filling the bent groove while protruding further in the outer direction, thereby penetrating deeper into the body tissue and fixing the same firmly.

[0050] The additional bent groove 160 of the fixed part 200 may be selectively applied to the suture thread for a lifting procedure according to the present invention.

[0051] In another embodiment of the present invention, the variable part 300 may be prepared by cutting out the suture thread in a spiral shape in the longitudinal direction of the suture thread 100. At this time, if the variable part 300 is processed by cutting out the suture thread 100 in a spiral shape in the longitudinal direction of the thread to form flexible grooves such that a connection portion between the flexible grooves is continued in a spring shape, structural elasticity may be effectively imparted even when using a thread made of non-elastic material.

[0052] Even when a relatively inexpensive medical thread without elasticity is used, the thread may be buried (or embedded) in a subcutaneous tissue of a subject to be treated by forming an integrated structure in which a variable part is disposed between two fixed parts, thereafter, it may have an advantage of naturally relaxing or contracting depending on movement of the muscle (tissue).

[0053] The suture thread for a lifting procedure according to the present invention is characterized in that fixed parts 200 are spaced apart from each other and formed on the outer periphery of a medical thread, and a variable part 300 having V-shape or U-shaped flexible grooves is disposed between the fixed parts, and a basic repeating unit including the above parts is repeated a predetermined number of times, so that the thread can naturally relax and contract depending on movement of the skin muscles. Further, without requiring any separate coupling structure for the suture thread, the suture thread is formed in an integrated structure along with the fixed part 200, thereby attaining unique effects of effectively contracting and relaxing the thread in a stably secured state.

[0054] Further, there are advantages of maintaining a bonding force with the skin by the fixed part 200 and, at the same time, having elastic restoration force owing to the structural elasticity of a variable part 300 that is formed continuously and integrally with the fixed part.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0055] The present invention provides a suture thread for a lifting procedure, characterized in that it can firmly lift a lifting portion without sagging by a fixed part without any stretchable structure, while forming a variable part structurally stretchable at a site with large movement whereby it can prevent occurrence of pain and thread breakage even when the muscle (tissue) move largely such as laughing or yawning, and therefore, it is proposed a suture thread for a lifting procedure which is divided into a first region and a second region in a longitudinal direction of the thread, and has technical features in that a connection portion between flexible grooves of the variable part may be stretched when an external force is applied, thereby imparting elasticity to the suture thread. Accordingly, the present invention has industrial applicability.