Suture fastener and instrument
AssigneeThe NoKnots Group, Incorporated
InventorsScott O. Ganaja, Nicholas M. Grissafi, Paul J. White
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A suture fastener includes male and female components being made of a bio dissolvable material. The male component has a flange extending transversely to its longitudinal axis at one end thereof. The female component has a hole defined therein for receiving the male component. The female component includes a surface extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of the hole, behind which the flange of the male component is retained upon insertion of the male component into the female component. A suture is clamped between the male and female components upon insertion of the male component into the female component. An instrument for inserting the male component into the female component is also disclosed.
Claims19
A suture fastener comprising:
- a male component being made of a bio dissolvable material, said male component having an outside surface defining an outer wall;
- and
- a female component being made of a bio dissolvable material and having a surface, the surface defining a hole for receiving the male component and a shoulder for coupling the male component, the hole having an inside wall, a suture being clampable between the outer wall of the male component and said inside wall of said hole in said female component upon insertion of the male component into the female component.
A suture fastener comprising:
- a male component having a first and a second end, said male component having an approximately cylindrical shape with an outside surface;
- and
- a generally ring shaped female component having a top surface and a bottom surface and a bore for receiving the male component, said bore having an inside surface, the top surface further including a shoulder portion behind which the first end of the male component is retained upon insertion of the first end of the male component into and through the bore from the bottom surface, a suture being clamped between the approximately cylindrical outside surface of the male component and the inside surface of the bore in the female component upon insertion of the male component into the female component.
A fastener for fastening two ends of a suture comprising:
- a male component and a female component configured to interlock and clamp two ends of a suture between them;
- said male component being made of a resilient material configured as a tapered member having a flange at one end, the flange being divided into two halves by a groove, the two halves of the flange being capable of being flexed towards one another in a resilient manner;
- the female component being generally ring-shaped and having a central opening sized to receive the tapered member and having a shoulder on one side of the opening for engaging the flange of the male component, the flange of the male component being retained behind the shoulder of the female component when the components are interlocked together;
- the male component and a female component being disposed on opposite sides of the two ends of the suture with the two ends of the suture being disposed in the groove so that the groove retains and locates the suture in a predetermined position across the male component;
- and
- the two ends of the suture being held in place by clamping action provided by an interference fit between the inner surface of the female component and the tapered member of the male component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.