University of Erlangen Medical Center 1 article published in JoVE Medicine Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a Suture Material in Tendon Surgery Elias Polykandriotis1,2, Marcus Himmler3, Shirin Mansouri2, Florian Ruppe4, Jasmin Grüner1, Lars Bräeuer5, Dirk W. Schubert3, Raymund E. Horch1 1Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Erlangen Medical Center, 2Department of Plastic, Hand, and Microsurgery, Sana Hospital Hof, 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nürnberg, 4Department of Plastic Surgery, Bayreuth Municipal Hospital, 5Institute of Anatomy, Chair II, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg The present protocol illustrates a method for assessing the biophysical properties of tendon repairs ex vivo. A polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) suture material was evaluated by this method and compared to other materials under different conditions.