Patent ID: 9668726
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A suture passing instrument comprising: a shaft having a far portion; a handle assembly coupled to the shaft, the handle assembly comprising a needle actuator, a handle portion, and a trigger lever, where the needle actuator is moveably coupled to the handle portion and the trigger lever is moveably coupled to the handle portion; a jaw assembly coupled to the far portion of the shaft and comprising an actuating jaw moveably coupled to a fixed jaw between an open and closed position; a needle linkage extending through the shaft and having a first end and a second end coupled to the needle actuator; and a curved needle coupled to the first end of the needle linkage at a pivot joint, the curved needle slidably positioned within a track of the fixed jaw, where a curvature of the curved needle and a curvature of the track are matched to permit movement of the curved needle through the track without deformation of the curved needle and where the track is configured to permit movement of the first end of the needle linkage to follow the curvature of the track without deformation of the needle linkage as the needle linkage advances through the fixed jaw.