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  • RESEARCH BRIEFINGS

A simple slipknot for precise force control

The tension of conventional surgical sutures can affect wound healing and is dependent on the surgeon’s experience. Imaging and simulations reveal that slipknots can reproducibly store and release force, enabling precise and consistent surgical knotting without the need for electronic sensors or specialized equipment.

This is a summary of: Xue, Y. et al. Slipknot-gauged mechanical transmission and robotic operation. Nature 647, 889–896 (2025).

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03829-4

‘Expert opinion’ is published under a CC BY 4.0 licence and Figure 1 is published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence.

References

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