Patent ID: 6031018
Filing Date: 2000-02-29
Classification: A61B,A61L

Abstract:
A surgical suture tipped with an aliphatic polymer comprising a suture that for a length of less than forty millimeters from at least one end of the suture has been tipped with an aliphatic polymer to provide a tipped region wherein the aliphatic polymer constitutes in the range of from about 6 to about 30 weight percent of the total weight of the tipped region, provided that the aliphatic polymer is a crystalline aliphatic polymer selected from the group consisting of copolymers of .epsilon.-caprolactone composed of from about 100 mole percent to about 70 mole percent of .epsilon.-caprolactone repeating units with the remainder of the polymer being a plurality of second lactone repeating units selected from the group consisting of glycolide repeating units, lactide repeating units, 1,4-dioxan-2-one repeating units, 1,4-dioxepan-2-one repeating units, 1,5-dioxepan-2-one repeating units, trimethylene carbonate repeating units and combinations thereof and copolymers of trimethylene carbonate composed of from in the range of from about 100 to about 80 mole percent trimethylene carbonate with the remainder of the copolymer being composed of a plurality of lactone repeating units selected from the group consisting of glycolide repeating units, lactide repeating units, 1,4-dioxan-2-one repeating units and combinations thereof wherein the aliphatic polymer is a solid at body temperature and provide in an amount sufficient to stiffen the tipped region of the suture for insertion into an end of a needle.