Surgical needle apparatus

Abstract

An Atraumatic surgical needle apparatus having an elongated arcuate metal body having a tapered end and a blunt end. Suture material is attached to the needle by inserting one end thereof into an axially extending bore located between the ends of the needle through a groove in the side of the needle body extending from the blunt end and snapping the suture material into a friction engaging snap slot which holds the suture material axially of the needle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an atraumatic reusable curved surgical sewing needle and especially to such a needle for use with stainless steel monofilament suture material.

In the past a great variety of suturing needles have been presented for use by surgeons, one of the most common types being a non-reusable needle which comes complete with suturing material attached thereto and which is thrown away after using. This type of needle is purchased sterilized and has many advantages but is expensive inasmuch as the stainless steel needle is thrown away. There have also been a great variety of suggestions for providing surgical needles and having means for attaching suturing material without leaving a knot or other enlarged area at the blunt end of the needle to interfere with the passage of the needle and suturing material through tissue being sewn. Typical of these prior art needles, U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,547 for Atraumatic Surgical Needle having means for rapid attachment of suturing material by the insertion through a pair of eyes in the blunt end of a needle and engaging a portion of the material in the narrowing slot to hold it to the surgical needle. This needle, however, would not be suitable for use with stainless steel which would not easily conform to the narrowing groove for anchoring the material to the needle. U.S. Pat. No. 1,131,155 is for a Needle having a friction engaging bore and means for inserting the suturing material therein. U.S. Pat. No. 965,219 provides for a Quick Threading Surgical Needle having two separated open ended parallel channels and a tapering spring for inserting the suturing thread. U.S. Pat. No. 1,695,887 teaches a Surgical Needle having a cutaway surface of oval contour intersecting the needle at an acute angle to the axis thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 1,757,129 teaches an Atraumatic Rethreadable Surgical Needle which is arcuate and has a flat eye section for passing the needle through and tieing a knot in the suturing material which is then held in an opening in the needle. U.S. Pat. No. 784,995 is a Surgical Needle which frictionally engages suturing material in a slot and the U.S. Pat. No. 2,014,170 teaches a Surgical Suture and Needle with a special tip for the suturing material to engage the surgical needle. U.S. Pat. No. 2,023,806 has a slotted bore for inserting materials.

The present needle is designed to be used with stainless steel monofilament suture material but can be used with silk, cottons, synthetics or catgut sutures as desired, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The design facilitates rapid and easy loading of the needle and the needle holds the sutures securely. In the actual use of an arcuate surgical needle the pressure is exerted on the convex side of the needle, and the needle can be passed smoothly through tissue in an atraumatic manner with the slots facing the concave side of the needle, and upon completion of the passage of the needle through the tissue the needle can be disengaged from the suture material by a sharp tug on the needle. The curve of the needle and the stiffness of the wire allow the needle to be easily loaded and disengaged. The needle can also be easily cleaned because the flat eyes open at both ends allowing a passageway through that portion of the needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention teaches an atraumatic surgical needle apparatus having an arcuate metal body having a tapered end portion and a suture material attaching end portion. The suture material attaching end portion includes a flat eye extending along the axis of the needle body for inserting the end of suture material through and a grooved seat connecting the falt eye to a snap slot which frictionally engages the suture material which is snapped therein to hold the suture material to the surgical needle. The snap slot has a pair of curved surfaces facing the concave side of the needle for guiding the suturing material into the snap slot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a study of the written description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a blunt end in which FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a surgical needle in accordance with the present invention, having a piece of suturing material attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blunt end portion of the surgical needle; illustrating a piece of suturing material being inserted thereinto;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2 in which the suturing material is being attached with a pair of surgical forceps; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the blunt end portion of the needle in accordance with the present invention, with suturing material attached thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an arcuate surgical needle 10 which typically would have a stainless steel body having a tapered end portion 11 and a blunt end portion 12 having the suturing material attaching portion thereon illustrated with suturing material 13 attached thereto. The blunt end 12 includes a tip 14 and a bore 15 passing along a portion of the axis of the needle 10 which bore has a portion 16 removed therefrom to form a grooved portion 17 and a portion 18 removed from the walls of the bore to form a grooved portion 20 so that the surgical material 13 can pass from the opening 18 through bore 15 to an opening 16 in the bore. The needle also has a frictional engaging snap slot portion 21 with curved lips 22 facing the concave portion of the needle. This is an important feature inasmuch as the pressure is applied as the needle passes through tissue to the convex side of the curved needle 10.

FIGS. 2 through 4 more clearly illustrate the connection of a piece of suture material 13 to the needle 10 by passing the material 13 through the bore 15 all the way to the opening in the bore walls 16 where it is received in a grooved portion 17. The suture material 13 can then lie in the grooved portion 20 formed with the opening 18 and be pressed into the snap slot 21 which has a pair of curved surfaces 22 which can engage the suture material and guide it into the slot when pressure is being applied with a pair of surgical forceps 23. Snap slot 21 is located adjacent the tip 14 of the surgical needle. FIG. 2 shows the suture material 13 being inserted into the bore 15 while FIG. 3 has the surgical clamps 23 engaging the needle 10 and the suture material 13 compressing it towards the snap slot 21.

FIG. 4 has the suturing material snapped into the slot 21 where it is frictionally engaged against removal from the surgical needle.

It should of course be clear that equivalents and other embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention. For instance, the needle could be adapted for a straight or curved needle with a triangular cutting point for use on the skin rather than through internal tissue. Accordingly, this invention is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed herein since these are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

Claims

I claim:

1. An atraumatic surgical needle comprising:

an elongated arcuate body having a tapered end portion and a blunt end portion, said elongated body having a first groove therein extending from the tip of the blunt end portion a predetermined distance parallel the elongated axis of said body;

said elongated body having a bore therein extending from the opposite end of said first groove from said blunt end portion tip a predetermined distance parallel to the elongated axis of said body;

said elongated body having a second groove therein extending from the opposite end of said bore from that end abutting the first groove a predetermined distance parallel to the elongated axis of said elongated body; and

a portion of said elongated body first groove forming a frictionally engaging snap slot for engaging suture material whereby suture material may be inserted into said bore through the end facing said first groove, passed through said bore into said second groove, and snapped into said frictionally engaging snap slot.

2. The surgical needle in accordance with claim 1 in which said first and second grooves of said body face the concave curved portion of said needle body.

3. The surgical needle in accordance with claim 2 in which said suturing material frictionally engaging snap slot has a pair of curved surfaces forming a narrowing slot in said first groove to guide said suturing material when snapping said suturing material into said surgical needle.