Method and apparatus for soft tissue fixation
US5823994A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 15, 1996 |
| Grant date | Oct 20, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 15, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S977/91
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An apparatus for repairing a wound in soft tissue includes an introducer trocar with a sharpened distal end and a hollow lumen. An elongated pin has a distal end, a proximal end and a central section. The pin is formed of compacted, hydrophilic, cross-linked collagen and introduced into the hollow lumen in a non-deployed state. An advancement member includes a distal end and is at least partially positioned in the hollow lumen. The advancement member advances the elongated pin out of the introducer trocar distal end and into a soft tissue structure in the pin's non-deployed state and across a wound in the soft tissue structure. The pin becomes deployed to a deployed state when the collagen in the pin begins to hydrolyze, anchoring the pin and the wound so that the wound can be healed quickly. This produces a maintenance of position for two non-continuous bodies of soft tissue relative to each other. The non-continuity may be the result of a wound, laceration, cut or tear in contiguous soft tissue or at a location where approximation and joining of two discontinues soft tissue structures is desirable.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.