Surgical grasper with integrated suture pulley

Abstract

A surgical grasper with an integrated suture pulley engages a suture during a suturing process. The grasper includes a jaw member pivotally connected to another jaw member, each having a suture engagement surface facing the suture engagement surface of the other. One jaw member includes a suture pivot post extending from its suture engagement surface. The other jaw member has an opening in its suture engagement surface sized and arranged to receive the pivot post. The grasper can be operated to position the jaw members in a suture grasping mode, in which the pivot post is received in the opening and the suture engagement surfaces securely engage the suture to inhibit movement of the suture. The jaw members can also be positioned in a pulley mode, in which the grasper slidably supports the suture and the pivot post acts as a pivot point and bearing surface for the suture.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.