Patent ID: 7455681

Claim:
A wound closure system comprising: (a) at least three or more skin anchors adapted to be mechanically attached to external skin tissue around a periphery of a wound; (b) a line adapted to extend between the skin anchors and around substantially the entire periphery of the wound, wherein the line is slidably engaged with each skin anchor and extends between the skin anchors without any portion of the line penetrating through the skin tissue; and (c) a tensioning apparatus including a housing with a spring that is adapted to provide dynamic tension on the line to draw the skin anchors toward each other and the wound, the housing including a spool rotatably coupled to the housing, the spool coupled to the spring and adapted for winding the spring for the application of the dynamic tension on the line, wherein no portion of the spring is adapted to be located within the periphery of the wound, wherein the housing and the spring include intermating structures adapted for winding the spring, wherein the intermating structures start to slip with respect to each other after the spring has been fully wound to provide an indication that winding of the spring within the housing has been completed.