Patent ID: 8876841
Filing Date: 2014-11-04
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A suturing apparatus comprising: a shaft; a pair of curved suturing needles, each needle including a substantially semi-annular body having a proximal end, a distal end, a tip at the distal end, an inner periphery, and an outer periphery, and an arm extending radially inward from the proximal end, in which a concavity, having a permanent opening that faces the distal end, is formed in the body proximate to the distal end, the concavity extending from the permanent opening only in a direction away from the tip, the pair of needles being mounted in parallel on the shaft such that the shaft extends through an end of the arm of each needle opposed to the proximal end and in a direction transverse to a plane formed by the body and the arm; and a rotational driving mechanism connected to the shaft, wherein a longitudinal axis of the shaft corresponds to a rotation axis thereof, the pair of needles each have a co-center of the inner and outer peripheries, both co-centers being on the rotation axis, and the rotational driving mechanism, configured to rotate the shaft and the pair of needles about the rotation axis, includes a gear system and a bar, in which the gear system has a first gear coaxially connected to the shaft and a second gear that is perpendicularly engaged with the first gear and coaxially connected to the bar.