Patent ID: 8545521

Claim:
A suturing assembly configured to pull a capsule attached to a suture through tissue, the suturing assembly comprising: a shaft aligned on a longitudinal axis of the suturing assembly; and a head coupled to the shaft, the head comprising: a proximal portion housing a needle that is movable through a needle exit port, where the proximal portion of the head and the needle exit port are both aligned on the longitudinal axis, and a distal end spaced apart from the proximal portion by a throat, where a proximal side of the distal end of the head defines a cavity adapted to receive the capsule and a distal side of the distal end of the head defines a slot adapted to allow the suture to pass through the distal end of the head and into the cavity; wherein the capsule is provided with a channel extending from a leading truncated end of the capsule to a trailing end of the capsule, and the channel in the capsule includes a flange formed in a wall of the channel; wherein the needle is adapted to be shunted away from the longitudinal axis of the suturing assembly and across the throat for engagement with the flange formed in the wall of the channel of the capsule.