Textiles for Industrial Applications

49Medical Textiles

© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

compression. Braids can maintain a structural composition without sacric-

ing exibility, and the result is a more natural, lifelike movement within the

body than materials of metal, plastic, or ceramic. Common braided appli-

cations include device assembly and carriers, sutures, and sewing threads,

tethers and component attachment, retrieval/deployment systems, tubes

and tubing reinforcement, ports, sheaths, reinforcement devices, catheters,

and tendon/ligament xation.

Braided structures: Typically employed in cords and sutures, braided struc-

tures can be designed using several different patterns, either with or with-

out a core. Because the yarns crisscross each other, braided materials are ...