Patent ID: 7837710

Claim:
A knotless suture anchor for anchoring two free ends of a looped suture thread to tissue without requiring a knot in the suture thread, comprising: an inner member including a proximal shaft and a distal securing member, the distal securing member having a structure to secure the distal securing member into a bore hole in tissue and thereby secure the inner member to the tissue, the proximal shaft including first and second holes extending therethrough for receiving the respective two free ends of the suture thread and further having a first locking part; and a collar member disposed around the inner member including an axial bore shaped to receive the proximal shaft of the inner member, a second locking part and first and second holes extending through the collar member and respectively assigned to the first and second holes of the proximal shaft of the inner member, the collar member being axially slidable into unlocked and locked positions relative to the proximal shaft of the inner member, the collar member being relatively axially slidable into the locked position only to secure the suture thread; wherein the holes of the collar member are aligned with the holes of the proximal shaft of the inner member when the collar member is placed into the unlocked position, the holes of the collar member are misaligned with the holes of the proximal shaft of the inner member when the collar member is placed into the locked position, and the first locking part of the proximal shaft engages with the second locking part of the collar member to axially lock the collar member with respect to the proximal shaft when the collar member is placed into the locked position, the two free ends of the looped suture thread being disposed through the respective holes in the proximal shaft and in the collar member so that the two free ends of the looped suture thread are secured by the misalignment of said holes in the proximal shaft and in the collar member in the locked position.