Suture needle adaptors for delivering suture needles through cannulas while simultaneously visualizing the delivery of the suture needles through the cannulas

A needle camera adaptor, comprising:

• a tube-shaped body having a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis that extends from the proximal end to the distal end;
• a lumen extending along the longitudinal axis from the proximal end to an opening in the distal end of the tube-shaped body;
• a lateral access opening formed in an outer wall of the tube-shaped body that provides lateral access to the lumen, wherein the lateral access opening is located in a central region of the tube-shaped body that is between the proximal and distal ends of the tube-shaped body;
• a needle securing channel formed in the outer wall of the tube-shaped body that extends between the lateral access opening and the distal end of the tube-shaped body, wherein the needle securing channel extends along an axis that defines an oblique angle with the longitudinal axis of the tube-shaped body;
• a curved suture needle disposed within the needle securing channel and being removable from the tube-shaped body via the lateral access opening, wherein the needle securing channel and the curved suture needle extend along an axis that defines an oblique angle with the longitudinal axis of the tube-shaped body;
• and
• a visualization device positioned within the lumen at the proximal end of the tube-shaped body and facing toward the distal end of the tube-shaped body, wherein the lateral access opening, the needle securing channel, and the curved suture needle are located within a field of view of the visualization device and
• wherein the lumen and opening in the distal end are configured to permit visualization of the needle and a surgical sight via a vision system of an endoscope when the needle camera adaptor is coupled to the endoscope as desired.

A needle camera adaptor, comprising:

• a tube-shaped body having a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis that extends from the proximal end to the distal end;
• a lumen extending along the longitudinal axis of the tube-shaped body from the proximal end to an opening in the distal end of the tube-shaped body;
• a lateral access opening formed in an outer wall of the tube-shaped body that provides lateral access to the lumen of the tube-shaped body, wherein the lateral access opening is located in a central region of the tube-shaped body that is between the proximal and distal ends of the tube-shaped body;
• a needle securing channel formed in the outer wall of the tube-shaped body that extends between the lateral access opening and the distal end of the tube-shaped body;
• a proximal needle securing recess formed in an inner surface of the outer wall, wherein the proximal needle securing recess is located within the central region of the tube-shaped body and is off-set from the longitudinal axis;
• a distal needle securing recess formed in the inner surface of the outer wall, wherein the distal needle securing recess is located adjacent the distal end of the tube-shaped body and is in alignment with the longitudinal axis, wherein the axis of the needle securing channel extends between and is aligned with the proximal and distal needle securing recesses;
• a curved suture needle having a proximal end with a suture attachment barrel, a distal end with a sharpened tip, and a curved elongated body extending from the proximal end to the distal end of the curved suture needle, wherein the proximal end of the curved suture needle is disposed within the proximal needle securing recess, the distal end of the curved suture needle is disposed within the distal needle securing recess, and the curved elongated body is disposed within the needle securing channel;
• and
• at least one suture retrieval slot formed in the outer wall of the tube-shaped body, wherein the at least one suture retrieval slot has an open end that is in communication with the lateral access opening and that faces toward the proximal end of the tube-shaped body and a closed end that is distal to the open end, wherein the lumen and opening in the distal end of the tube-shaped body being configured to permit visualization of the curved suture needle and a surgical sight via a vision system of an endoscope.