Patent ID: 7998149
Filing Date: 2011-08-16
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A suturing device for use with a suturing needle by a surgeon having a hand, the device comprising: a body having a proximal end and a distal end; a first clamp near the distal end of the body; a second clamp near the distal end of the body; a handle configured for grasping by the hand of the surgeon and actuatable between an open hand configuration and a closed hand configuration by the hand of the surgeon; and a linkage coupling the handle with the first and second clamps, the linkage effecting movement of the first and second clamps between a grasping configuration and a displaced configuration, each clamp grasping the needle at an associated grasping location in the grasping configuration and laterally displaced from the needle in the displaced configuration, the grasping locations substantially fixed relative to the body; the linkage, in response to movement of the handle between the open handed configuration and the closed handed configuration, driving the first and second clamps between; wherein the linkage comprises an alternatable drive element, the alternatable drive element alternating between a first configuration and a second configuration in response to movement of the handle between the open hand configuration and the closed hand configuration; the alternatable drive element in the first configuration drivingly coupling the handle to a first portion of the linkage and operatively decoupling the handle from a second portion of the linkage so that a movement of the handle between the open hand configuration and the closed hand configuration with the alternatable drive element in the first configuration drives the clamps from the withdrawal configuration to the insertion configuration, and the alternatable drive element in the second configuration operatively decoupling the handle from the first portion of the linkage and drivingly coupling the handle to the second portion of the linkage so that the movement of the handle between the open hand configuration and the closed hand configuration with the alternatable drive element in the second configuration drives the clamps from the insertion configuration to the withdrawal configuration; such that repeating the movement of the handle alternates the clamps between the insertion configuration and the withdrawal configuration with the grasping locations remaining substantially fixed relative to the body.