Patent ID: 7407505

Claim:
A surgical suturing instrument comprising: a housing having a handle and an actuating member; an elongated guide member attached to the housing, and having a distal end; a tissue engaging gap formed proximal to the distal end of the elongated guide member; first and second needles extending from the housing through the shaft to the distal end, the needles reciprocally movable across the gap from a proximal end of the gap to a distal end of the gap and each needle having a ferrule engaging tip; first and second ferrule receiving apertures registerable with the first and second needles, respectively, at a distal end of the gap; a selector for selectively coupling the actuating member to a selected one of the first and second needles; and an element cooperating with the ferrule receiving aperture of the selected one of the first and second needles, sequentially holding and releasing a ferrule so that in a first mode, the needle engages the ferrule and draws a suture across the gap, and in a second mode, the ferrule is retained in the aperture and the needle separates from the ferrule and is retracted across the gap leaving the ferrule in the aperture.