Patent ID: 8444672

Claim:
Apparatus for attaching connective tissue to bone, said apparatus having a proximal end, and a distal end, and a longitudinal axis extending from said proximal end to said distal end, and comprising: a bone affixing member, the bone affixing member having an aperture; a body member disposed distally of the bone affixing member, such that there is an axial space extending along said longitudinal axis between said bone affixing member and said body member, the body member has a lumen comprising an open proximal end; said bone affixing member being configurable between an undeployed position wherein said bone affixing member has a smaller profile in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis and a deployed position wherein said bone affixing member has a larger profile in said direction transverse to said longitudinal axis; wherein the aperture is disposed relative to the open proximal end in both the undeployed and deployed positions to provide a path along the longitudinal axis into the lumen and from the bone affixing member; and a connecting portion disposed in said axial space and joining said bone affixing member to said body member; and a suture return member disposed in the lumen, and a suturing material looped around said return member and not directly secured to said bone affixing member, wherein the suturing material passes through the aperture of the bone affixing member and into the lumen, around the return member and then passes out of the lumen and through the aperture.