Apparatus and methods for attaching soft tissue to bone

• US 20090048629A1
• Filed: 08/14/2007
• Published: 02/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Illuminoss Medical, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Illuminoss Medical, Inc.
• Inventors: Rabiner, Robert A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,523,901 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/232
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0401 Suture anchors, buttons or pledgets, i.e. means for attaching sutures to bone, cartilage or soft tissue; Instruments for applying or removing suture anchors A61B17/0642 takes precedence; fixation devices for tendons or ligaments A61F2/0811
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0409 Instruments for applying suture anchors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0424 the separate member staying in the anchor after placement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0432 the separate member staying in the anchor after placement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0445 cannulated, e.g. with a longitudinal through-hole for passage of an instrument

Abstract

Suture anchors and methods for using the suture anchors for attaching soft tissue, such as ligaments, tendons, and muscles, to bone are disclosed herein. A suture anchor for attaching soft tissue to bone includes a catheter having an elongated shaft with a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis therebetween, wherein the catheter has at least one inner lumen capable of allowing a light curable adhesive to pass therethrough; a balloon portion engaging the distal end of the catheter, wherein the balloon portion expands from a deflated state to an inflated state when a light curable adhesive is delivered to the balloon portion; and at least one suture material for passing through soft tissue to attach the soft tissue to a bone.

Claims

1. A suture anchor for attaching soft tissue to bone comprising:

a catheter having an elongated shaft with a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis therebetween, and at least one inner lumen for a light curable adhesive to pass therethrough;

a balloon portion engaging the distal end of the catheter, wherein the balloon portion expands from a deflated state to an inflated state when the light curable adhesive is delivered to the balloon portion; and

at least one suture material for passing through soft tissue to attach the soft tissue to a bone.

2. The suture anchor of claim 1 further comprising a base having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the balloon portion extends through the base.

3. The suture anchor of claim 2 wherein the base comprises at least one pair of eyelets that extend from the top surface of the base to the bottom surface of the base for passage of the suture material.

4. The suture anchor of claim 3 wherein the suture material passes from the top surface to the bottom surface of a first eyelet and passes from the bottom surface to the top surface of a second eyelet.

5. The suture anchor of claim 1 further comprising at least one eyelet attached to the catheter for passage of the suture material.

6. The suture anchor of claim 1 wherein the suture material is embedded into the balloon portion.

7. The suture anchor of claim 1 wherein the light curable adhesive is a UV glue.

8. The suture anchor of claim 1 further comprising at least one light guide extending from the catheter into the balloon portion to guide a light from a light source into the balloon portion.

9. The suture anchor of claim 1 further comprising a light source for providing an ultraviolet light to the catheter.

10. The suture anchor of claim 1 further comprising a separation area at the distal end of the catheter, the separation area allowing the catheter to be removed from the balloon portion.

11. The suture anchor of claim 1 wherein the balloon portion expands to an inflated state after being positioned within a cancellous tissue of the bone.

12. A method for using a suture anchor to engage a soft tissue to a bone comprising:

forming an access hole in a bone, the access hole having a diameter and extending through a cortical bone into a cancellous bone;

providing a suture anchor to the access hole, the suture anchor comprising at least one suture material and a balloon portion capable of expanding from a deflated state having a deflated diameter to an inflated state having an inflated diameter when a light curable adhesive is delivered to the balloon portion;

placing the suture anchor into the cancellous bone while the balloon portion is in a deflated state and the at least one suture material extends from the cancellous bone through the compact outer layer of the bone;

delivering a light curable adhesive to the balloon portion to expand the balloon portion from the deflated state to the inflated state, wherein the inflated diameter is greater than the diameter of the access hole; and

activating a light source to deliver light to the light curable adhesive in the balloon portion to cure the light curable adhesive.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the light source provides light to the balloon portion using at least one light guide that extends from a catheter that engages the balloon portion.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the suture anchor further comprises an oblong shaped base having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the balloon portion extends through the base.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the base comprises at least one pair of eyelets that extend from the top surface of the base to the bottom surface of the base for passage of the suture material.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the suture material passes from the top surface to the bottom surface of a first eyelet and passes from the bottom surface to the top surface of a second eyelet.

17. A method for attaching a soft tissue to a bone comprising:

forming an access hole in a bone, the access hole having a diameter and extending through a cortical bone into a cancellous bone;

providing a suture anchor to the access hole, the suture anchor comprising at least one suture material and a balloon capable of expanding from a deflated state having a deflated diameter to an inflated state having an inflated diameter when a light curable adhesive is delivered to the balloon portion;

placing the suture anchor into the cancellous bone while the balloon portion is in a deflated state and the at least one suture material extends from the cancellous bone through the compact outer layer of the bone;

delivering a light curable adhesive to the balloon portion to expand the balloon portion from the deflated state to the inflated state, wherein the inflated diameter is greater than the diameter of the access hole;

activating a light source to deliver light to the light curable adhesive in the balloon portion to cure the light curable adhesive; and

attaching the soft tissue to the bone using the at least one suture material.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the suture anchor further comprises a catheter having a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis therebetween, the catheter engages the balloon portion and has at least one light guide that extends through the catheter into the balloon portion and provides the light that hardens the light curable adhesive.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the suture anchor further comprises an oblong shaped base having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the balloon portion extends through the base.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the base comprises at least one pair of eyelets that extend from the top surface of the base to the bottom surface of the base for passage of the suture material.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the suture material passes through a pair of eyelets such that the suture material passes from the top surface to the bottom surface of a first eyelet in the pair and then passes from the bottom surface to the top surface of a second eyelet in the pair.