Patent ID: 7981139

Claim:
A suture fastening system for adjustably holding suture, said system comprising: one or more suture strands; and a tubular fastening element of unitary construction having a hollow central channel, the fastening element comprised of a shape memory alloy or a spring temper steel, said fastening element comprising at least one pair of discrete through holes in a sidewall thereof, at least one of said one or more suture strands at least partially received through said at least one pair of discrete though holes, wherein the fastening element has a tensioned shape-recovery position in which the discrete through holes of said at least one pair of discrete through holes are concentrically aligned to allow for sliding of the fastening element relative to the suture strands and a relaxed shape-recovery position in which the discrete through holes of said at least one pair of discrete through holes are misaligned for holding the strands in a fixed position relative to the element or to each other, and wherein the fastener is adjustable between the tensioned shape-recovery position and the relaxed shape-recovery position to allow repositioning of the fastener to a new desired location along the suture strands after holding the strands in a fixed position, and wherein the at least one pair of discrete through holes comprises at least one first discrete through hole and at least one second discrete through hole, the at least one suture strand passing directly from the at least one first discrete through hole to the at least one second discrete through hole, and wherein the at least one pair of discrete through holes are bounded on all sides in both the tensioned position and the relaxed position, wherein the fastening element holds the suture strands along a tortuous path in the relaxed shape-recovery position, wherein the tortuous path has a circumferentially offset form.