Suturing Apparatus Needle Drive

Abstract

A suturing system including apparatus and methods for disposing a suture in a substrate comprising a needle configured to engage and carry a suture ferrule through the substrate to dispose the suture in the substrate between a substrate first location and a substrate second location. In particular embodiments, the suturing apparatus can include a structure to dampen excess forcible urging or absorb forcible urging applied after the needle engages a needle stop to terminating travel of the needle, and/or a magnetic drive to assist forcible urging on the needle drive or independently generate force sufficient to independently operate the needle drive or provide a combination of forces over the travel path of the needle to both assist forcible urging, 10 and at a particular point in the travel path of the needle, independently operate the needle drive.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.