Abstract: An apparatus for cutting an indefinite length suture strand to uniform lengths for subsequent threading and swaging to a surgical needle includes a drawing tower having at least one guide member defining a drawing axis parallel thereto. First and second gripping devices are provided to grip the indefinite length suture strand and draw it along the drawing axis; each gripping device mounted for reciprocal movement on at least one guide member. A retractable cutter for cutting the indefinite length suture strand is also provided for cutting the strand at a start position along the drawing axis. The indefinite length suture strand is fed to the drawing axis and drawn a predetermined distance beyond the location of the retractable cutter for positioning within a suture receiving opening formed in the surgical needle, while the second gripping device reciprocates to a start position along the drawing axis.

Abstract: The present invention utilizes a sub-threshold exposure step on an optically sensitive resist that is applied to a semiconductor wafer to thin the resist below the thickness which can be achieved by normal spinning and/or thinning techniques. Furthermore, the thinned resist can be re-expose to UV energies so as to develop patterns on the surface of the semiconductor wafer. An apparatus for vibrating and rotating the resist during the sub-threshold step is also disclosed herein.