Ethicon, Gmbh

Joseph W Rollero

William C McJames

Robert Nering

Eric Hinrichs

Thomas Nering

Jerry W Stametz

Lester E Schaible

Donald G Miller

A surgical suture loop combination and a method of using the combination. The combination has a suture and a surgical needle. The ends of the suture are mounted to the surgical needle to form a suture loop. A pledget member is mounted to the suture loop. A replacement heart valve is mounted to a cardiac valve annulus using the suture loop combinations and surgical procedures of the present invention.

Surgical method for affixing a valve to a heart using a looped suture combination

A needle for endoscopic surgery is curved into an arc of more than 180.degree. and twisted, so that it forms a part of a spiral, with a lateral offset between the needle point and barrel. The needle is sized to fit through a 10 mm trocar and is also blackened, to improve its visibility in a bloody field. The needle curvature is preferably not constant over its entire length, so that different sections have different radii of curvature. The needle is particularly well adapted for performing laporascopically a procedure (Burch Colposuspension) that is used to treat female stress incontinence.

Spiral needle for endoscopic surgery

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Whitehouse Station, NJ, United States of America

Joseph W Rollero