Patent ID: 8382774

Claim:
A suturing system comprising: a suturing instrument including an elongated body member having a distal end and comprising a detent located at the distal end; a rotatable head extending from the distal end of the elongated body member, the head including a curved needle carrier channel, a curved needle carrier for holding a needle, a driver member, and a needle catch defining at least one opening for receiving and retaining a needle, said curved needle carrier being movably positioned in the curved needle carrier channel, and said driver member being coupled to the curved needle carrier for advancing the curved needle carrier outside of the head in a semi-circular path terminating in the needle catch, the rotatable head also including a rotational element operably associated with the detent; and a grasper for grasping at least a portion of the head to rotate the head within a body cavity, and rotation of the grasper, when grasping at least of portion of the head, translates into rotation of the rotational element and engages the rotational element with the detent of the distal end to position the head in one of a plurality of orientations.