Patent ID: 8808313

Claim:
A surgical instrument for manipulating a suture comprising: an elongated body comprising two parallel lumens; a suture advancer movably mounted within a second of said lumens, said suture advancer being a flat ribbon comprising a distal facing u-shaped slot; a suture retriever movably mounted within a first of said lumens, said suture retriever comprising a distal loop made of a shape-memory material such that in a released state said distal loop will adopt a preformed shape; and a curved cannulated needle tip provided at a distal end of said body such that a lumen of the cannulated needle is an extension of and in alignment with said first lumen, said cannulated needle comprising a sharpened distal end adapted to pierce tissue to be sutured, said curved cannulated needle tip being positioned at a location distal to a distal end of said second lumen, wherein at least a portion of said suture retriever is movable between a retracted state within said cannulated needle tip and said released state beyond said cannulated needle, and wherein a path of said suture advancer selectively intersects with said suture retriever in said released state.