Cannulated suture anchor

• US 8,597,328 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Depuy Mitek LLC (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Depuy Mitek LLC (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Cauldwell, Nathan, Howe, Jonathan, Wolf, Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): McDermott, Corrine M
• Assistant Examiner(s): DANG, PHONG SON H
• Application Number:
  US12/749,109
• Publication Number:
  US 20100185238A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: 606/232, 606/300, 606/213, 623/23.72, 623/13.14, 411/387.5, 411/402
• 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 17/0487 Suture clamps, clips or locks, e.g. for replacing suture knots; Instruments for applying or removing suture clamps, clips or locks suture anchors A61B17/0401; wound clamps or clips A61B17/08; ligaturing clamps or clips A61B17/122
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/06166 Sutures suture materials A61L17/00; manufacture of artificial threads D01D; treatment of threads D06M
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/888 the driver bit acting on the central region of the screw head
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0403 Dowels other bone dowels A61B17/68; dowels for connecting prosthetic parts A61F2002/30433
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0409 Instruments for applying suture anchors for applying suture clamps, clips or locks A61B2017/0488
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0412 having anchoring barbs or pins extending outwardly from suture anchor body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0414 having a suture-receiving opening, e.g. lateral opening lateral eyelet for attaching suture to needle A61B2017/06019
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0427 having anchoring barbs or pins extending outwardly from the anchor body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/044 with a threaded shaft, e.g. screws
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0445 cannulated, e.g. with a longitudinal through-hole for passage of an instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0454 the anchor being crimped or clamped on the suture
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0458 Longitudinal through hole, e.g. suture blocked by a distal suture knot
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0459 Multiple holes in the anchor through which the suture extends and locking the suture when tension is applied
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0496 for tensioning sutures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0619 thermoplastic, e.g. for bonding, welding, fusing or cutting the suture by melting it suture cutters A61B17/0467; ultrasonic cutters A61B17/320068; electrically heated instruments A61B18/08

Abstract

Methods and devices are provided for anchoring suture to bone. In one exemplary embodiment, a cannulated suture anchor is provided and it includes a suture-engaging member formed therein and configured to receive a suture therearound such that trailing ends of the suture can extend through the suture anchor. The present invention also provides exemplary sutures and drivers that can be used with the various methods and devices disclosed herein, or with other methods and devices known in the art.

Claims

1. An apparatus for anchoring tissue to bone, comprising:

a suture anchor having an inner lumen extending between proximal and distal ends thereof, the distal end including opposed cut-outs formed in opposed sidewalls thereof and a suture-engaging member positioned in the inner lumen, extending between the opposed sidewalls at an immovably fixed longitudinal position with respect to the opposed cut-outs, and adjacent to the opposed cut-outs such that a suture can extend around the suture-engaging member and trailing ends of the suture can extend through the inner lumen of the suture anchor, wherein the suture-engaging member does not extend distally beyond a distal-most end of the suture anchor; and

a driver having an elongate shaft and a distal end adapted to be advanced distally into the inner lumen of the suture anchor through the proximal end thereof to be received within and to engage a proximal portion of the inner lumen of the suture anchor,

wherein, when the distal end of the driver is being advanced distally within the inner lumen of the suture anchor, the distal end of the driver cannot extend distally beyond the distal-most end of the suture anchor; and

wherein, when the distal end of the driver engages the proximal portion of the inner lumen of the suture anchor, the driver is adapted to be rotated so as to rotate the suture anchor relative to bone so as to drive the suture anchor into the bone.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongate shaft includes an inner lumen extending therethrough for receiving a suture extending through the inner lumen of the suture anchor.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, when the distal end of the driver is received within and engages the proximal portion of the inner lumen of the suture anchor, the suture anchor and the driver are configured such that an injectable material can be introduced through the inner lumen of the driver and into the inner lumen of the suture anchor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the opposed cut-outs are configured such that the injectable material introduced through the driver and into the inner lumen of the suture anchor can flow through the cut-outs.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the elongate shaft includes opposed cut-outs formed therein for allowing a suture extending from the suture anchor to extend externally along the elongate shaft of the driver.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the elongate shaft has a hexagonal cross-sectional shape, and wherein at least a proximal portion of the inner lumen the suture anchor has a complementary hexagonal cross-sectional shape.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inner lumen of the suture anchor has a first diameter in the proximal portion thereof, and a second diameter in a distal portion of the inner lumen of the suture anchor, the second diameter being less than the first diameter.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second diameter is less than a third diameter of the distal end of the driver such that the distal end of the driver cannot be received within the distal portion of the inner lumen of the suture anchor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inner lumen of the suture anchor has a first cross-sectional shape proximal to the suture-engaging member and a second, different cross-sectional shape distal to the suture-engaging member.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driver has a first terminal end of a flexible wire attached thereto, a second terminal end of the flexible wire being coupled to one of the trailing ends of the suture, and the flexible wire being disposed in the inner lumen of the suture anchor and extending around the suture-engaging member.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, when the flexible wire is disposed in the inner lumen of the suture anchor and extends around the suture-engaging member, the suture does not extend around the suture-engaging member.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a distal portion of the elongate shaft of the driver has a diameter smaller than a diameter of a proximal portion of the elongate shaft of the driver such that the proximal portion cannot be advanced into the inner lumen of the suture anchor.

13. An apparatus for anchoring tissue to bone, comprising:

a suture anchor having an inner lumen extending between proximal and distal ends thereof, the distal end including opposed cut-outs formed in opposed sidewalls thereof and a suture-engaging member extending between the opposed sidewalls and adjacent to the opposed cut-outs such that a suture can extend around the suture-engaging member and trailing ends of the suture can extend through the inner lumen of the suture anchor, the suture-engaging member being at a non-removably fixed longitudinal position relative to the opposed sidewalls; and

a driver having an elongate shaft and a distal tip, the distal tip being adapted to be received within the proximal end of the suture anchor and advanced distally through the inner lumen to extend through a substantial length of the inner lumen, and the driver having a stop surface formed thereon such that the distal tip is prevented from extending through the inner lumen distally beyond a proximal end of the cut-outs when the driver is being advanced distally into the inner lumen so as to abut the stop surface against the suture anchor.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the inner lumen of the suture anchor has a first cross-sectional shape proximal to the proximal end of the cut-outs and a second, different cross-sectional shape distal to the proximal end of the cut-outs, the distal tip having a third cross-sectional shape corresponding to the first cross-sectional shape.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first and third cross-sectional shapes are hexagonal.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the elongate shaft includes an inner lumen extending therethrough for receiving a suture extending through the inner lumen of the suture anchor.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the distal tip includes opposed cut-outs formed therein for allowing a suture extending from the suture anchor to extend externally along the distal tip of the driver.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the stop surface is configured to abut against an exterior surface of the suture anchor to prevent the distal tip from extending through the inner lumen distally beyond a proximal end of the cut-outs.