Meniscus repair anchor system
First Claim
1. A surgical fastener for securing together sections of body tissue, said fastener comprising:
- anchoring means for being anchored within at least one of two sections of body tissue; and
retaining means for limiting movement of said anchoring means in a first direction, said retaining means including a retaining member and a flexible member tethering the retaining member to the anchoring means;
wherein the anchoring means further comprises a shaft and a plurality of barbs disposed on said shaft, said barbs having a length that is at least as large in dimension as a width of the shaft.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A meniscus repair anchor. The anchor includes an anchor body and a retaining head intercoupled by a flexible member. The anchor is lodged within a hollow needle. The needle is advanced into the meniscus and across the tear in an inner-to-outer direction, thereby preventing contact between the anchor body and meniscal tissue during deployment. Once the needle tip has penetrated the outer edge of the meniscus and protrudes therefrom, a stylus is used to deploy the flexibly tethered retaining head against the outer edge. The hollow needle is then retracted, causing the barbs along the anchor body to deploy internally within the meniscus. Excess length of the anchor body is cut off at the inner edge entry point of the meniscus.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A surgical fastener for securing together sections of body tissue, said fastener comprising:
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anchoring means for being anchored within at least one of two sections of body tissue; and retaining means for limiting movement of said anchoring means in a first direction, said retaining means including a retaining member and a flexible member tethering the retaining member to the anchoring means; wherein the anchoring means further comprises a shaft and a plurality of barbs disposed on said shaft, said barbs having a length that is at least as large in dimension as a width of the shaft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A surgical fastener for securing together sections of body tissue, said fastener comprising:
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fastening means for fastening together at least two-sections of body tissue; and retaining means flexibly tethered to the fastening means for limiting movement of said fastening means in a first direction; wherein the fastening means further comprises a shaft and a plurality of barbs disposed on said shaft, said barbs having a length that is at least as large in dimension as a width of the shaft.
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11. A surgical fastening system for securing together sections of body tissue, said system comprising:
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hollow pressing means for pressing against one of the sections of body tissue; a hollow needle slidably insertable into the pressing means, said hollow needle having a sharp and beveled tissue-piercing tip; and fastening means for fastening together at least two sections of body tissue, said fastening means being slidably insertable into the needle. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A surgical fastening system for securing together sections of body tissue, said system comprising:
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hollow pressing means for pressing against one of the sections of body tissue; a hollow needle slidably insertable into the pressing means; fastening means for fastening together at least two sections of body tissue, said fastening means being slidably insertable into the needle; and advancing means slidably insertable into the hollow needle for advancing the fastening means through the hollow needle and discharging a portion of said fastening means from a distal opening of said needle. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A surgical fastening system, for securing together sections of body tissue, said system comprising:
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hollow pressing means for pressing against one of the sections of body tissue; a hollow needle slidably insertable into the pressing means; fastening means for fastening together at least two sections of body tissue, said fastening means being slidably insertable into the needle; wherein the fastening means comprises an anchor member and a tension control member coupled to a proximal end of the anchor member and extending outwardly therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A surgical fastening system, for securing together sections of body tissue, said system comprising:
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hollow pressing means for pressing against one of the sections of body tissue; a hollow needle slidably insertable into the pressing means; fastening means for fastening together at least two sections of body tissue, said fastening means being slidably insertable into the needle; wherein the fastening means comprises an anchor member, a retaining head and a flexible member tethering the retaining head to the anchor member.
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21. A surgical fastening system for securing together sections of body tissue, said system comprising:
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a hollow needle; a fastening means slidably disposed within the needle for fastening together at least two sections of body tissue, said fastening means including a shaft having a plurality of barb members disposed thereon, said barbs having a length that is at least as large in dimension as a width of the shaft; and a pushing member slidably insertable into the hollow needle. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A surgical fastening system for repairing a tear in body tissue, said tear being defined by a first section of body tissue and a second section of body tissue, said system comprising:
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hollow pressing means for pressing against one of the sections of body tissue; a hollow needle slidably insertable into the pressing means; fastening means for fastening together at least two sections of body tissue, said fastening means being slidably insertable into the needle; wherein the fastening means comprises an anchor body and a plurality of barb members disposed on said anchor body and a retaining means tethered to said anchor body for limiting movement of said anchor body in a first direction; wherein the fastening means has a longitudinal axis, and wherein the retaining means is positioned in a transverse orientation with respect to said longitudinal axis; wherein the barb members extend outwardly from the shaft such that each barb member defines an acute angle with respect to said shaft; wherein at least some of the barb members are aligned in a single row along an axial direction of the anchor body; wherein the barb members are flexible; wherein the anchor body comprises an elongate member and wherein the retaining means is tethered at a mid-section thereof by the flexible member and extends outwardly in opposing directions from the mid-section such that said retaining means and the anchoring means define a T-shaped member when said retaining means is positioned in a substantially orthogonal orientation with respect to the anchor body; wherein the retaining means has a generally round outer boundary; a tension control member disposed on a proximal portion of the anchor body member and extending outwardly therefrom; advancing means slidably insertable into the hollow needle for advancing the fastening means through the hollow needle and discharging a portion of said fastening means from a distal opening of said needle; wherein the hollow pressing means comprises a blunt pressing edge for pressing against said one of the sections of body tissue without piercing said tissue; wherein the fastening means comprises an anchor member, a retaining head and a flexible member tethering the retaining head to the anchor member. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification