Needle suture attachment
AssigneeUnited States Surgical Corporation
InventorRolf A. Spingler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A needle suture combination and attachment method is disclosed wherein a surgical suture is attached to a surgical needle by inserting the suture tip into a tapered axial hole formed in the barrel section through the needle blunt end face and swaging the needle barrell section. The swage commences at a point away from the end of the needle end face. The needle suture attachment of the invention does not require closely corresponding suture and needle hole diameters, and advantageously achieves reliable needle-suture attachment with reduced needle inventory. Process and equipment maintenance are also reduced.
Claims18
A surgical needle-suture combination comprising:
- a surgical needle having a barrel section with an unexpanded outer diameter, a blunt end face and an axial hole in said barrel section extending longitudinally from said blunt end face into said barrel section, said axial hole having a first diameter at said blunt end face and being tapered along a continuous wall to a second, reduced diameter at the bottom of the hole away from said blunt end face;
- and
- a surgical suture, one end of said suture disposed in said axial hole and said needle swaged about said suture to uniformly reduce the outer diameter of a portion of the barrel section to attach said suture to said needle with increasing compression away from said blunt end face, a portion of the suture adjacent the bottom of the hole being overswaged and an attachment portion between said overswaged portion and said blunt end face being compressed to attach said suture to said needle.
A method of making a surgical needle-suture combination comprising:
- providing a surgical needle having a barrel section with an outer diameter and a blunt end face and an axial hole in said barrel section extending longitudinally from said blunt end face into said barrel section, said axial hole having a first diameter at the blunt end face and being uniformly tapered along a continuous wall to a second, reduced diameter at the bottom of the hole distal to said blunt end face;
- inserting the tip of a surgical suture into said axial hole;
- and
- swaging said needle about said suture to uniformly compress a portion of the barrel section to an outer diameter less than the outer diameter of the unswaged barrel section, thereby compressing the suture tip within the hole with increasing compression toward the bottom of the hole to said needle to said suture.
A surgical needle-suture combination comprising:
- a surgical needle having a barrel section with an outer diameter, a blunt end face and an axial hole in said barrel section extending longitudinally from said blunt end face into said barrel section, said axial hole having a first diameter at said blunt end face and being tapered along a continuous wall to a second, reduced diameter at the bottom of the hole away from said blunt end face;
- and
- a surgical suture, one end of said suture disposed in said axial hole and said needle swaged about said suture to uniformly reduce the outer diameter of a portion of the barrel section to provide a swaged region to attach said suture to said needle, said swaged region having a substantially uniform outer diameter which is less than the outer diameter of the unswaged barrel section, a portion of the suture toward the bottom of the hole being overswaged and a portion of the suture at a point between said blunt end face and said overswaged portion being compressed to attach said suture to said needle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.