Surgical instrument for the treatment of female urinary incontinence and methods of use

Abstract

The present invention provides a surgical instrument for use during a surgical procedure for the treatment of female urinary incontinence. The surgical instrument comprises a handle including a gripping mechanism (30) providing a means for the surgeon to manipulate the surgical instrument. The handle further includes a coupling means (40) enabling the interconnection of a curved needle-like element to the handle. The curved needle-like element (10) has at least two eyes therethrough, wherein one eye (80) is located in the proximity of the first end (70) of the element and a second eye (90) is located in the proximity of the opposite end (60) of the needle-like element. During the surgical procedure, surgical tape (100) is passed through one of the eyes and drawn through the body in a manner such that the surgical tape forms a suburethral sling, wherein the two ends of the surgical tape emerge from the abdominal wall.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.