Delivering Sutures

• US 20080109015A1
• Filed: 11/05/2007
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Chu, Michael, Bialobrzeski, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,709,021 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/139
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0469 Suturing instruments for use in minimally invasive surgery, e.g. endoscopic surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1114 of the digestive tract, e.g. bowels or oesophagus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/047 having at least one proximally pointing needle located at the distal end of the instrument, e.g. for suturing trocar puncture wounds starting from inside the body J-shaped suture needles A61B2017/0608
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0472 Multiple-needled, e.g. double-needled, instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/2905 flexible
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/2927 the angular position of the head being adjustable with respect to the shaft

Abstract

A suturing instrument includes a suturing head that is coupled to the shaft of an elongate body member of the instrument by a connector member which may be biased in either a linear orientation along the longitudinal axis of the shaft or any one of a variety of non-linear orientations with respect to the shaft'"'"'s longitudinal axis. The connector member can comprise a resilient material such that an external force may be applied to the suturing head and move the suturing head from a biased orientation (e.g., linear) to an unbiased orientation (e.g., non-linear). Once the external force is removed, the resiliency of the connector member allows the suturing head to return from the unbiased orientation to the biased orientation. Therefore, a user may adjust the shape of the instrument by applying or removing an external force on the suturing head.

Claims

1. A suturing instrument comprising:

an elongate body member including a handle at a proximal portion and engaged to a suturing head at a distal portion by a connector member, the suturing head including a needle carrier and a needle catch, the suturing head being adjustable between a linear or substantially linear orientation relative to the elongate body member and a non-linear orientation relative to the elongate body member by application of an external force;

a needle partially disposed within the needle carrier, the needle engaging a suture at a first end and including a tissue-penetrating tip at a second end; and

an actuator capable of delivering the needle from the needle carrier to the needle catch.

2. The suturing instrument of claim 1, wherein the connector member comprises a spring.

3. The suturing instrument of claim 1, wherein the connector member comprises a plurality of springs.

4. The suturing instrument of claim 1, wherein the connector member comprises a polymer.

5. The suturing instrument of claim 1, wherein the connector member comprises a flexible plastic.

6. The suturing instrument of claim 1, wherein the connector member comprises a pre-formed non-linear spring.

7. The suturing instrument of claim 6, further comprising a trocar for surrounding a length of the suturing instrument.

8. The suturing instrument of claim 7, wherein the trocar comprises a laparoscopic trocar.

9. The suturing instrument of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of needles.

10. The suturing instrument of claim 9 wherein each needle engages a distinct suture thereby allowing for the placement of a plurality of sutures prior to removal of the suturing device.

11. A suturing instrument comprising an elongate body member engaged to a suturing head by a flexible connector member, the suturing head being movable independently of the elongate body member in response to an external force.

12. The suturing instrument of claim 11, wherein the connector member comprises a spring.

13. The suturing instrument of claim 11, wherein the connector member comprises a plurality of springs.

14. The suturing instrument of claim 11, wherein the connector member comprises a flexible polymer.

15. The suturing instrument of claim 11, further comprising a trocar surrounding a length of the suturing instrument.

16. The suturing instrument of claim 11, further comprising a handle disposed at a proximal portion of the elongate body member.

17. A suturing instrument, comprising:

an elongate body member coupled to a suturing head by a flexible connector member, the flexible connector member being biased such that the elongate body member is in a non-linear orientation with respect to the suturing head; and

a trocar surrounding a portion of the suturing instrument and comprising a material capable of applying an external force to the suturing instrument to produce a linear or substantially linear relationship between the suturing head and the elongate body member.

18. The suturing instrument of claim 17, wherein the flexible connector member comprises a spring.

19. The suturing instrument of claim 17, wherein the flexible connector member comprises a plurality of springs.

20. The suturing instrument of claim 17, wherein the flexible connector member comprises a flexible polymer.