The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 07, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 28, 1997
Scott Larsen, Newtown, CT (US);
Daniel R Lee, Madison, CT (US);
United States Surgical Corporation, Norwalk, CT (US);
Abstract
A system for suture anchor placement includes an apparatus having a handle portion and an operating portion. The handle portion includes a spring, a needle park, and a member for releasably holding a length of the suture. The operating portion includes a sheath tube and a plunger rod slidably disposed within the bore of the sheath tube. The plunger rod is fixedly mounted at its proximal end to the handle. The suture anchor is releasably engaged to the distal end portion of the plunger rod. The sheath tube is mounted to the handle and movable with respect to the handle between a distal position and a proximal position, the sheath tube being resiliently biased to the distal position by the spring and movable to the proximal position in response to proximally directed force of sufficient magnitude applied to the distal end of the sheath tube. The sheath tube has a portion with an outer diameter greater than the diameter of the hole in the bone such that when the installation tool is pressed toward the bone, the sheath tube retracts into the handle and the suture anchor is advanced into a hole previously made in the bone. The suture, initially held in a taut configuration, is released in response to movement of the sheath tube to its proximal position.