Patent ID: 9011466
Filing Date: 2015-04-21
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A bi-directional suture passing instrument configured to approximate soft tissue defects, the suture passing instrument comprising: a body member defining a needle receiving channel; a boom arm extending from the body member, the boom arm having a boom arm housing that is spaced from the body member, wherein a tissue-receiving gap is disposed between the boom arm housing and the body member; a needle reciprocally translatable within the channel of the body member between an advanced position in which a distal end of the needle extends into the boom arm housing, and a retracted position in which the distal end of the needle is refracted from the boom arm housing, the needle defining a tip that is configured to penetrate tissue; and a shuttling element configured to detachably couple to the needle, and to the boom arm housing, the shuttling element defining a needle-like tip such that when the shuttling element is detachably coupled to the needle and the needle is translated toward the advanced position the needle-like tip of the shuttling element is configured to penetrate tissue that is disposed within the tissue-receiving gap, so that the shuttling element can pass through the tissue and into the boom arm housing, wherein (i) when the shuttling element is detachably coupled to the needle, rotation of the needle relative to the boom arm housing causes the shuttling element to detachably couple to the boom arm housing, and (ii) when the shuttling element is detachably coupled to the boom arm housing and the needle, rotation of the needle relative to the boom arm housing releases the shuttling element from the boom arm housing.