Retainer for a combined surgical needle-suture device possessing a needle shield with needle tip stop feature

Abstract: A retainer for a combined surgical needle-suture device possesses a needle shield 10 featuring a stop element 16 which prevents the tip of the needle 18 from puncturing the package in which the retainer is held.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a retainer for a combined surgical needle-suture device, also commonly referred to as an "armed suture" or simply a "suture", as part of a suture package. Retainers for sutures are known from, inter alia , U.S. Patent Nos. 3,363,751; 3,444,944; 3,613,878; 3,759,376; 3,857,484; 3,939,969; 3,972,418; 3,985,277; 4,063,638; 4,089,409; 4,120,395; 4,135,623; 4,192,420; 4,249,656; 4,253,563; 4,284,194; 4,406,363; 4,412,614; 4,413,727; 4,427,109; 4,483,437; 4,491,218; 4,496,045; 4,533,041; 4,555,016; 4,572,363; 4,574,948; 4,574,957; 4,615,435; 4,708,241; 4,813,537; 4,884,681; 4,887,710; 4,896,767; 4,961,498; and, 4,967,902. The pre-characterising part of claim 1 below is based on US-A-3,951,261. As an essential component of a suture package, the suture retainer should possess good storing qualities, provide safety in handling and permit ready access to, and removal of, the stored sutures. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By way of meeting the foregoing criteria, there is provided in accordance with this invention a retainer for a combined surgical needle-suture device as defined in claim 1 below. In another aspect, the invention provides a method of packaging a combined surgical needle-suture device upon a retainer, and this method is defined in claim 13 below. The stop wall feature of the needle shield effectively prevents accidental puncture by a stored needle and permits rapid access and removal of an armed suture when desired. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figs. 1 and 2 are perspective views of embodiments of a needle shield in accordance with the present invention; Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the obverse and reverse sides, respectively, of an armed suture retainer card with the needle shield of Fig. 1 mounted thereon; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a suture package, including its outer breather package, suitable for packaging the armed suture retainer of Figs. 3 and 4; and, Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the suture package of Fig. 5 removed from the breather package and opened for partially exposure of its armed suture contents. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, needle shields 10 and 10' are each fabricated from a suitably stiff material, preferably a transparent thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate. The needle shields are conveniently manufactured from sheets of thermoplastic resin by such known and conventional processes as thermoforming. Needle shield 10 possesses top and bottom edges 11 and 12, respectively, and flanged parallel lateral edges 13 and 14, respectively, by which the needle shield grips side edges 31 and 32 of retainer base panel 30 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. An arcuate stop wall, 16 projecting upwardly from surface 15 of needle shield 10 retains the sharp tips of needle components 18 (as shown in Fig. 3) preventing the tip from causing accidental puncture of front panel 43 of peel-open suture package 40 (shown in Figs. 5 and 6). Advantageously, stop wall 16 continues a short distance up lateral edge 13 to provide additional security against accidental puncture. By way of maintaining needle components 18 in a neat array upon surface 15 of needle shield 10, the surface is provided with a series of cuts defining tabs 17 which, when displaced upwardly from surface 15, provide elements for securing individual needles 18 in place. Needle securing means other than tabs 17 can, of course, be utilized, e.g., a series of approximately parallel "bumps: with a needle snap-fitted therebetween (not shown). Needle shield 10', like needle shield 10, possesses flanged lateral edges 13' and 14' by which the needle shield grips the side edges of an armed suture retainer panel. Stop wall 16' is an integral element of pocket 19 and like stop wall 16 of needle shield 10, retains the tip of a needle thereby preventing accidental puncture of the armed suture package. However, unlike needle shield 10 in which the needles lie upon surface 15 of the shield, in needle shield 10', the stored needles are retained within pocket 19, i.e., beneath surface 15' of the shield. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and in dotted outline in Fig. 6, the general appearance of retainer base panel 30 is that of a flat, relatively stiff panel whose longest sides 31 and 32 are parallel to each other to permit needle shield 10 or 10' to be slid onto the retainer during the packaging operation. Retainer 30 can be constructed from any of several different types of materials including various kinds of plastics, paper-foil laminate, etc. Retainer base panel 30 is more fully described, together with peel-open foil package 40 of Figs. 5 and 6 for accommodating the loaded retainer, in EP-A-471458. A similar retainer base panel which is also suitable for use herein is described in EP-A-498093 As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, needle shield 10 has been mounted in place by being slid onto retainer base panel 30 in the direction indicated by the arrow. A number of armed sutures are secured in place upon retainer base panel 30, their curved needle components 18 lying flat upon a portion of obverse side 33 of the base panel and a portion of surface 15 of needle shield 10 with their suture components 20 extending through triangular shaped aperture 34 to reverse side 35 of the base panel where they occupy coiled passageway 36. The sutures can be drawn into coiled passageway 36 by applying a vacuum through orifice 37 positioned at the far end of the passageway. Under the influence of the vacuum, the sutures quickly occupy the passageway. The fully loaded armed suture retainer of Figs. 3 and 4 is conveniently packaged in peel-open metal foil suture package 40 of Fig. 5 shown in its outer breather package 50 following sterilization and sealing. Suture package 40 comprises an envelope 41 made up of front panel 42 joined to a rear panel (not shown) along common edges 44 employing any known and conventional adhesive. Peelable closure flap 45 completes package 40 and is advantageously provided with a knurled or embossed trapezoidally configured edge 46 to facilitate gripping. The material of construction of the front and rear panels and the closure flap is one which prevents or greatly impedes the transmission of moisture therethrough. In the embodiment shown, the walls and the closure flap are of laminate construction of a known type in which an aluminum foil is faced on its interior side with a polyolefin film such as polyethylene film. The laminate can vary in thickness from about 76 to about 127 µm (about 3 to about 5 mils) and preferably from about 89 to about 114 µm (about 3.5 to about 4.5 mils). Retainer base panel 30 is provided with an extension panel 38 which is adhesively secured to the undersurface of closure flap 45 such that when the closure flap is pulled open, it will not readily completely separate from package 40 where it might otherwise litter the operating area. To remove an armed suture from opened suture package 30, the shank of a needle is grasped by a needle gripper and pulled away from the package, usually in a direction which is more or less in the plane of the package. Outer breather package 50 (Fig. 5) can be of known and conventional structure in which a gas-impermeable clear plastic sheet is heat sealed around its top and bottom edges 51 and 52 and its longitudinal edges 53 and 54 to a gas-permeable but sterile-secure backing sheet such as a web of spun-bonded polyolefin fiber, e.g., DuPont's Tyvek (trademark). In an improvement in this type of breather pouch which is especially suitable for use with the present invention, the fibrous backing sheet is provided with a strip of release agent, e.g., of a water-based adhesive which dries to a non-tacky finish, along its longitudinal edges which effectively eliminates the possibility of fiber-pull in the sheet when the clear plastic sheet is stripped away. Thus, as the top seal is peeled apart, the release agent along the longitudinal edges facilitates opening of the package and substantially eliminates the possibility of fiber-pull along the longitudinal edges by providing a pull-force which is substantially less than the force required to separate the fibers in the backing sheet from themselves. Also, as a result of the application of the release agent to the longitudinal edges, the pull force at the top and bottom seals required to separate the plastic layer from the fibrous backing sheet is slightly greater than the pull force required to separate the two layers at the side edges. Thus, after the initial pull separates the sheets at the top seal, it is easier to open the rest of the package by pulling the sheets apart since the force required to separate the sheets at the longitudinal edges is less than the force required to separate the initial top heat seal. The improved breather pouch can be manufactured on an apparatus which feeds a web of fibrous backing material, e.g., Tyvek, having at least two continuous longitudinally directed strips of release agent material applied thereon at regular intervals starting at the first edge of the web and terminating at the second longitudinal edge. The apparatus feeds the web of Tyvek material and a web of plastic material, preferably polyethylene, to a position to enclose suture packages placed in rows between the plastic and Tyvek layers. This assembly is then fed to a heat seal device which simultaneously provides transverse and longitudinal heat seals to seal the suture packages between the two layers. Preferably, the plastic web is vacuum formed to provide recesses or pockets to accept the suture packages thereon. The Tyvek then overlays the plastic and suture packages and the heat seal device seals about the recesses. Alternately, the release agent material may be positioned in longitudinal strips between the tyvek and plastic layers prior to the heat sealing step, so that the heat seal is through the release agent between the two layers of material. It is preferred, however, that the release agent material be applied directly to the Tyvek layer. A heat seal platen is applied to the webs to form the seals for adjacent packages. The assembly is then advanced to a cutter mechanism which cuts the pouches just below the transverse seal to form the bottom of one package and along the longitudinal seals, while ensuring that the top edge seals of the individual packages include the gripping tab formed for each package which facilitates separation of the plastic layer from the Tyvek layer to open the pouch. Other embodiments of the invention, besides those described above and illustrated herein, are included within the scope of the claims which follow.

Claims: A retainer for a suture package which retainer comprises: a) a base panel (30) for retaining at least one surgical needle of a combined surgical needle-suture device; and b) a needle shield (10) mounted upon the base panel, characterized in that the needle shield includes a flat surface (15, 15') and a projection (16) thereon, said surface (15, 15'), in use of the retainer enclosing a needle component (18) of the needle-suture device, and the projection defining a puncture-resistant stop wall for preventing the sharp tip of the needle from puncturing the package. A retainer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the base panel possesses parallel lateral sides (31, 32) and the needle shield possesses flanged parallel lateral sides (13, 14) for gripping contact with the parallel lateral sides of the base panel. A retainer as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the needle shield is formed from a synthetic resin. A retainer as claimed in claim 3 wherein the synthetic resin is transparent. A retainer as claimed in claim 3 or 4 wherein the needle shield is formed from polyethylene terephthalate. A retainer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the needle shield possesses a pocket (19) for receiving the pointed end of the needle. A retainer as claimed in claim 6 wherein the stop wall (16) is an integral part of the pocket (19). A retainer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the needle shield possesses needle-gripping means (17). A retainer as claimed in claim 8 wherein the needle-gripping means comprises a needle gripping tab (17). A retainer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the reverse side (35) of the base panel (30) possesses means (36) for enclosing the suture of the combined surgical needle-suture device. A retainer as claimed in claim 10 wherein the means (36) for enclosing the suture comprises a coiled passageway. The retainer of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the needle shield is disposed over at least one needle such that the needle is between the needle shield and the base panel. A method of packaging a combined surgical needle-suture device upon a retainer which comprises a base panel (30) and a needle shield (10) mounted upon the base panel, characterised by the steps of: i) providing a needle shield which has a flat surface (15, 15') and a projection from the surface, the projection defining a puncture resistant stop wall (16) ii) mounting the needle shield to the base panel iii) arranging the needle-suture device upon the retainer in the package such that a needle component (18) of the device is enclosed by the surface (15, 15') and the tip of the needle is proximate to, or abuts, the stop wall (16) so that the wall (16) prevents the needle from puncturing the package. A method according to claim 13, which further comprises: slidably mounting the needle shield possessing parallel flanged sides (13, 14) upon the obverse side of the flat retainer base panel, itself possessing parallel lateral sides (31, 32) such that the flanged parallel lateral sides of the needle shield make gripping contact with the parallel sides of the base panel. A method according to claim 13 or 14 including the step of passing the free end of the suture component of the combined surgical suture-needle device through an aperture (37) on the base panel (30) and attaching the suture component to the obverse side of the base panel. A method according to claim 15 including placing the suture component within a coiled passageway (36) in contact with the obverse side of the base panel. A method of claim 16 including drawing the suture component into the passageway by a vacuum applied thereto.

Inventors: SINN HANS-JURGEN F, SINN, HANS-JURGEN F.
Applicants: UNITED STATES SURGICAL CORP, UNITED STATES SURGICAL CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A61B17
IPC codes: A61B17