Bone anchor and method of anchoring a suture to a bone

Abstract

A bone anchor (10) for securing a suture to a bone (38). The bone anchor (10) has a tip (16) at its distal end (18) and at least one resilient wall (27) extending to a trailing end (20) of the body (12) of the anchor. The wall (27) has a ridge (14), or barb, formed on an outer surface. The ridge (14) defines an edge (34) that digs into a hole (36) in the bone (38) in which it is positioned. A strand of suturing thread (22) extends through a suture receiving opening (24) in the tip (16) of the anchor. When tension is applied to the suturing thread (22), it causes the ridge (14) to dig into the walls of the hole (36) in the bone (38). Two resilient walls (27,28) are preferably provided which include an annular ridge-shaped barb (14). The two resilient walls 27, 28 scissor outwardly upon application of tension to the suturing thread. The tip (16) is generally frustoconical with a rounded leading end. The method of the present invention employs the suture anchor (10) and includes the steps of forming a hole (36) in a bone (38), inserting the suture anchor (10) to a desired depth in the hole (36) in the bone (38) with the tip (16) inserted first and the trailing resilient walls (27,28) following the tip. Suturing thread (22) extends from the suture receiving opening (24) in the tip and along the length of the walls (27,28) out of the hole (36) in the bone (38). The next step is to pull on a portion of the suturing thread extending out of the bone (38) to urge the barb (14) into firmer engagement with the bore hole (36).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.