Patent ID: 7819880

Claim:
A tissue repair system comprising a surgical instrument and an implant, the surgical instrument for delivering the implant to a damaged tissue site in a human body, the instrument comprising: an implant carrier; an elongate guide member having a proximal end and a distal end, the elongate guide member providing a path of travel for the implant carrier from the proximal end to the distal end; the implant carrier having an extended position beyond the distal end of the elongate guide member and a retracted position between the proximal and distal ends of the elongate guide member; and the instrument further including a reciprocable member for moving the implant carrier between the retracted and extended positions, the reciprocable member having a proximal end and a distal end, the instrument including a substantially spherical head at the distal end; the implant carrier mounted on the spherical head at the distal end of the reciprocable member, the implant carrier comprising a base and a plurality of arms extending outwardly from and connected to the base, the base having an interior surface shaped to complement at least a part of the substantially spherical head at the distal end of the reciprocable member, each arm having a free end opposite the base; the arms of the implant carrier having a general longitudinal orientation with the free ends of the arms positioned distally away from the base and the reciprocable member when the implant carrier is in the retracted position; the arms of the implant carrier having a general radial orientation with the free ends of the arms positioned radially away from the base and the reciprocable member when the implant carrier is in the extended position; the implant carrier having a transverse dimension perpendicular to the path of travel of the implant, the maximum transverse dimension of the implant carrier in the retracted position being less than the maximum transverse dimension of the implant carrier in the extended position; wherein the implant includes a sheet discrete from the implant carrier and attached to the free ends of a plurality of the arms of the implant carrier when the implant carrier is in the retracted position and when the implant carrier is in the extended position; wherein the implant has a first shape when the implant carrier is in the retracted position and a second shape when the implant carrier is in the extended position.