System and method for securing implants to soft tissue

A method for surgically implanting a suburethral sling within a patient comprising the steps:

• a) providing an implantable sling comprised of an elongate segment of material having first and second opposed ends, each respective opposed end having an anchor mechanism formed thereon such that each respective anchor mechanism is advanceable through said soft tissue at said selected target site in a first direction and resistant to movement in an opposite direction;
• b) providing a non-mechanically assisted deployment mechanism for positioning said anchor mechanisms of said implantable sling within said target site of said soft tissue, said deployment mechanism comprising a manually operable handle having a deployment member extending distally therefrom, said deployment member being detachably fastenable to a respective one of said anchor mechanisms of said implantable sling, said deployment member being configured to guide the anchor mechanism through the soft tissue to the target site, and insert said anchor mechanism into said tissue at said target site;
• c) mounting a respective one of said anchor mechanisms of said implantable sling upon a distal end of said deployment member of said deployment mechanism;
• d) advancing said anchor mechanism mounted upon said distal end of said deployment member in step c) toward a target site corresponding to a first target site located in a first mass of soft tissue in the pelvic area, and selectively detaching said anchor mechanism from said deployment member such that said anchor mechanism becomes embedded within the first mass of soft tissue;
• e) mounting the respective other anchor mechanism of said implantable sling upon said distal end of said deployment member and advancing said respective other anchor member toward a target site corresponding to a second target site located in a second mass of soft tissue in the pelvic area, such that said respective other anchor member extends in a direction dissimilar to said first anchor member and said segment of material is positioned beneath the urethra of said patient;
• and
• (f) detaching said respective other anchor mechanism from said deployment member and embedding said anchor mechanism within the second mass of soft tissue such that said anchor mechanisms resist movement toward one another and securely position said sling beneath the urethra of said patient.