# US 11,076,848 B2 · Devices, systems, and methods for providing surgical access and facilitating closure of surgical access openings

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- Number: US 11,076,848 B2
- Document ID: US11076848B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/240,854
- Filed: 2019-01-07
- Published: 2019-05-09
- Granted: 2021-08-03
- Earliest claimed: 2013-08-02
- Assignees: Covidien LP
- Applicants: Covidien LP
- Inventors: Jaroslaw T. Malkowski; Scott J. Prior; John D. Hendershot, III; Kenneth W. Horton; Christopher A. Tokarz; Danny R. Berry; Wayne A. Johnson
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11076848B2

## CPC

- A61B 17/0482: {Needle or suture guides (guides for drills, pins or wire A61B17/17; guides for puncturing needles A61B17/3403)}
- A61B 17/0057: {Implements for plugging an opening in the wall of a hollow or tubular organ, e.g. for sealing a vessel puncture or closing a cardiac septal defect (sutures A61B17/04; closing rectum or urethra near body surface A61F2/0009)}
- A61B 17/0483: {Hand-held instruments for holding sutures (A61B17/0469 takes precedence; other holders for needles or sutures A61B17/06061; surgical forceps A61B17/28; surgical pincettes A61B17/30)}
- A61B 17/3417: {Details of tips or shafts, e.g. grooves, expandable, bendable; Multiple coaxial sliding cannulas, e.g. for dilating (syringe needles A61M5/32; dilators A61M29/00)}
- A61B 17/3468: {for implanting or removing devices, e.g. prostheses, implants, seeds, wires (devices for implanting seeds A61M37/0069)}
- A61B 90/70: Cleaning devices specially adapted for surgical instruments
- A61M 5/329: {characterised by features of the needle shaft}
- A61B 17/3462: {with means for changing the diameter or the orientation of the entrance port of the cannula, e.g. for use with different-sized instruments, reduction ports, adapter seals (expandable cannulas A61B17/3417)}
- A61B 90/361: {Image-producing devices, e.g. surgical cameras}
- A61B 2017/00349: {Needle-like instruments having hook or barb-like gripping means, e.g. for grasping suture or tissue (A61B17/06066 takes precedence)}
- A61B 2017/00637: {for sealing trocar wounds through abdominal wall}
- A61B 2017/00663: {the implement being a suture}
- A61B 2017/00907: {for light}
- A61B 2017/3405: {using mechanical guide means}
- A61B 2017/3411: {with a plurality of holes, e.g. holes in matrix arrangement}
- A61B 2017/3441: {with distal sealing means}
- A61B 2017/3445: {used as instrument channel for multiple instruments}
- A61B 2017/3454: {Details of tips}
- A61B 2017/347: {Locking means, e.g. for locking instrument in cannula}
- A61B 2090/036: {abutting on tissue or skin}
- A61B 2090/08021: {of the patient or his organs}
- A61B 2090/701: {for flexible tubular instruments, e.g. endoscopes}
- A61M 13/00: Insufflators for therapeutic or disinfectant purposes {, i.e. devices for blowing a gas, powder or vapour into the body (hand-held units in which gas flow is produced by muscular energy at the moment of use B05B11/062)}
- A61M 19/00: Local anaesthesia (syringes therefor A61M5/00); Hypothermia (A61M5/42 takes precedence; cooling blood in a bypass of the arterial system A61M1/36)
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)}

## Abstract

A guide member is configured for guiding a suture passer through a cannula and tissue surrounding the cannula to facilitate closure of an opening in tissue. The guide member includes a guide housing and an elongated guide shaft. The guide housing is configured for releasably engaging the guide member with the cannula and defines an entry aperture. The elongated guide shaft extends distally from the guide housing and defines an annular exterior surface. An exit aperture is defined through the annular exterior surface. The guide member defines a lumen extending from the entry aperture, through the guide housing and the elongated guide shaft, to the exit aperture. The entry aperture, lumen, and exit aperture cooperating to define a passageway extending through the guide member.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A guide member configured for guiding a suture passer through a cannula and tissue surrounding the cannula to facilitate closure of an opening in tissue, the guide member comprising:
an inner shaft, the inner shaft defining an entry opening, an exit opening, and a channel extending between the entry opening and the exit opening, the inner shaft having at least one arm protruding distally from a proximal end portion of the inner shaft;
an outer sleeve disposed about the inner shaft and positioned to enclose at least a portion of the channel to define a passageway extending between the entry opening and the exit opening; and
a ring having an inner annular surface defining a helical track configured to be directly threadedly engaged to the at least one arm of the inner shaft.

### Claim 2

A guide member configured for guiding a suture passer through a cannula, the guide member comprising:
an inner shaft defining a channel extending between an entry opening defined in a proximal end portion of the inner shaft and a distal opening defined in a distal end portion of the inner shaft, the inner shaft having a cap fixed to the proximal end portion of the inner shaft and having at least one arm protruding distally from the cap;
an outer sleeve disposed about the inner shaft and positioned to enclose at least a portion of the channel; and
a ring having an inner annular surface defining a helical track configured to be directly threadedly engaged to the at least one arm of the cap.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The guide member according to claim 2, further comprising a collar fixed to a proximal end portion of the outer sleeve.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The guide member according to claim 3, wherein the cap is configured to be coupled to the collar via the ring.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The guide member according to claim 2, wherein the ring has a pair of tabs extending distally therefrom.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The guide member according to claim 2, wherein the inner shaft has a plate-like configuration along a length thereof.

### Claim 7

A guide member configured for guiding a suture passer through a cannula, the guide member comprising:
an inner shaft defining a channel extending between a proximal end portion thereof and a distal end portion thereof, the inner shaft having at least one arm protruding distally from the proximal end portion thereof;
an outer sleeve disposed about the inner shaft and positioned to enclose at least a portion of the channel; and
a ring having an inner annular surface defining a helical track configured to be directly threadedly engaged to the at least one arm of the inner shaft.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The guide member according to claim 7, further comprising a collar fixed to a proximal end portion of the outer sleeve.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The guide member according to claim 8, wherein the ring surrounds the collar, such that the collar is retained between the proximal end portion of the inner shaft and the ring.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The guide member according to claim 7, wherein the distal end portion of the inner shaft includes a resiliently flexible tip member, the tip member configured to pass distally through a distal aperture defined in a distal end portion of the outer sleeve to a distal position and be prevented from moving proximally through the distal aperture out of the distal position, the tip member tapering in a distal direction and having a shoulder configured to engage a distal edge of the distal end portion of the outer sleeve.