Surgical suturing instrument comprising a non-circular needle
AssigneeCilag GmbH International
InventorsAndrew C. Deck, Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Gregory J. Bakos, Nicholas M. Morgan, Gregory G. Scott, Asaad Hossain
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Abstract
A surgical suturing system is disclosed. The surgical suturing system comprises a shaft comprising a shaft diameter, a firing drive, and an end effector extending distally from the shaft. The end effector comprises a needle track and a needle comprising suturing material attached thereto, wherein the needle is configured to be guided by the needle track and actuated by the firing drive through a firing stroke, and wherein the needle is movable along a needle path comprising a maximum capture width which is greater than the shaft diameter.
Claims4
A surgical suturing system configured to suture tissue, wherein said surgical suturing system comprises:
- a shaft comprising a shaft diameter;
- a needle guide pivotably attached to said shaft;
- a firing drive;
- an end effector pivotably attached to said shaft, wherein said end effector comprises:
- a needle driver configured to be actuated by said firing drive;
- a needle track;
- a needle comprising suturing material attached thereto, wherein said needle is configured to be guided by said needle track and actuated by said needle driver through a firing stroke to suture tissue, wherein said needle is movable through a plurality of firing strokes by said firing drive to provide a continuous suturing feed through the tissue;
- and
- a tissue bite region, wherein said needle is configured to be advanced through an entirety of said tissue bite region during said firing stroke to suture tissue, wherein said tissue bite region comprises a width greater than said shaft diameter,
- wherein said end effector is movable relative to said shaft such that said tissue bite region can extend beyond said shaft diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.