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PREPARATION OF THREADS:
The threads are prepared on surgical linen size 20 by repeatedly smearing it with the latex of euphorbia neriifolia and a combination of certain vegetable caustics grown on a large scale in India and other parts of southern Asia.
These substances are:
1) Fresh latex collected from the plant euphorbia neriifolia (euphorbiaceae family) by stabbing the stem at various places (figure 1).
2) A specially prepared alkaline powder derived from the plant achyranthes aspera (amaranthaceac family).This powder is obtained by the evapouration of the filtered soloution of burnt ashes of this plant in water.This method is indeginious to the Indian system of medicine and is termed Ksharapatan .The powder thus obtained,is also caustic and is locally used as a debriding agent in chronic non healing ulcers.It has a pH range of 8 to 9.2.
3) A fine powder of the dried rhizomes of curcuma longa,(ascitaminacea family).These rhizomes are commonly used as ingredient of spice and are commonly termed as tumeric.
The processing of the thread is done inside a specially designed cabinet (figure 2).This cabinet is provided with adevice for hot blast for drying the threads and an ultra violet light for sterilization. The temprature of the chamber is recorded with the help of a thermometer.The cabinet contains 25 hangers on which the surgical linen No. 20 is spread and hooked throughout.After the thread is properly hooked into the hanger, it is soaked with the fresh latex of the plant mentioned above and the hanger replaced into the cabinet for drying ,it is again re-soaked in the same manner in a fresh material, and the process is repeated for as many as seven times.When this part of this procedure is complete the next seven coationgs are with the latex and the alkaline poder simultaneously in the same way,the thread are passed into the alkaline powder after processing with latex,thus permitting the particles of the powder to stick over the wet thread, after which it is allowed to dry.In the final phase of the preparation of thread,the remaining seven coatings are similiarly done with the latex and tumeric powder. During the processing , the threads are sterilized by U.V. light.The tubes (fig. 3) are marked for the data of preparation, lenth of the thread,and are sealed.
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