Patent ID: 7942886

Claim:
A transabdominal needle introducer for fixation of hernial prosthesis used in the repair of incisional ventral hernias, said transabdominal needle introducer comprising: a tubular shaft having a proximal end and a distal end; a sliding segment generally coaxially and adjacently disposed with said tubular shaft proximal end; a handle having a knob head coaxially attached to said sliding segment; said sliding segment defining a slit with a slidable pusher member at least partially received within said slit in slidable relation with said sliding segment, said slidable pusher member attached to a pusher rod, said pusher rod having a wire projecting from a distal end thereof; a rotatable cylindrical control disposed in concentric relation with said tubular shaft and rotatable relative thereto, said cylindrical control defining a longitudinal spiral groove; a pivoting rod having an angulated end received within said spiral groove, whereby rotation of said cylindrical control causes forward and backward movement of said pivoting rod relative to said tubular shaft; said tubular shaft distal end having a pivoting member connected thereto, said pivoting member pivoting relative to said tubular shaft upon forward and backward movement of said pivoting rod; a generally hollow disposable cartridge removably connected to said pivoting member, said cartridge including two straight surgical needles connected by thread and a piston-type pusher slidably disposed therein, said piston-type pusher movable by said wire in order to extrude said two straight surgical needles.