Patent ID: 8449559
Filing Date: 2013-05-28
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method for suturing tissue adjoining a body cavity in a body of a patient, the method comprising: providing a shaft having a longitudinal axis and a distal end and having first and second needle guides attached thereto in a first operative configuration in which the needle guides are parallel to the axis, the needle guides holding first and second needles, to which respective first and second ends of a suture thread are attached; inserting the distal end of the shaft into the body cavity while the needle guides are in the first operative configuration, wherein in the first operative configuration, the needles pointing in a distal direction; deploying the needle guides outward from the distal end of the shaft into the body cavity so that the needle guides assume a second operative configuration in which the needles held by the needle guides point in a proximal direction, wherein the needle guides curved out of the shaft so as to point in the proximal direction toward the shaft; ejecting the needles from the needle guides in the second operative configuration so as to cause the needles to penetrate the tissue adjoining the body cavity; and capturing and holding the first and second ends of the suture thread with the shaft after the needles have passed through the tissue.