Hollow suture needle with handle

Abstract

A suture needle instrument having improved connection means enabling a hollow suture needled to be attached to a handle in a variety of orientations. The suture needle is provided with user accessible suture channels and suture advancing wheels to facilitate cleaning and repair.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A surgical instrument comprising:
 a hollow needle having an axial lumen;   a handle having a proximal end and a distal end, said distal end adapted to selectively receive and retain said hollow needle, said handle defining a sagittal planar surface within said handle, said lumen in said hollow needle being aligned with said surface when said needle is retained by said handle;   a pair of suture-advancing wheels attached to said handle, each rotatable about an axis, and the rotational axes of said wheels being parallel to each other, perpendicular to said sagittal plane, and spaced apart a predetermined distance to enable the perimeters of said wheels to be closely juxtaposed to or contact one another, such that a nip is defined at a first point between said wheels;   at least one first suture passageway for guiding a suture from an aperture on the surface of said handle to said nip, said first suture passageway comprising a groove formed in said sagittal planar surface and extending between said aperture on the surface of said handle and a second point adjacent and proximal to said first point; and   a cover adapted to be removed from and attached to said handle, said cover defining an internal complementary planar surface adapted to be juxtaposed to said sagittal planar surface, whereby when said cover is attached to said handle, said complementary planar surface confines a suture in said groove in said sagittal planar surface, thereby completing said suture passageway.   
     
     
         17 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a second suture passageway generally in line with said first suture passageway, said second suture passageway for guiding a suture from said nip between said wheels to said lumen of said hollow needle, said second suture passageway comprising a second groove formed in said sagittal planar surface extending between a third point adjacent said wheels and a fourth point adjacent the lumen of said needle when retained.   
     
     
         18 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 16 , further comprising a wheel recess formed in said sagittal planar surface for receiving a portion of the outer perimeter of each of said wheels. 
     
     
         19 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 18  wherein each wheel is received within its own recess and wherein the recesses associated with each wheel are disposed opposite one another on either side of said nip defined between said wheels. 
     
     
         20 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 19  further comprising a further bore formed in said wheel recess for receiving therein an axis pin of each wheel. 
     
     
         21 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 19  wherein each wheel recess is deep enough to receive therein one half of the thickness of the wheel to be received in the recess and wherein said cover defines complementary recesses for receiving the remaining thickness of the wheels, confining the wheels between said sagittal surface and said cover. 
     
     
         22 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 16 , wherein said first groove in said sagittal planar surface forms approximately one-half of the cross-section of said first suture passageway and wherein a mating second groove is formed in said complementary planar surface of said cover, said second groove forming approximately one-half of the cross-section of said first suture passageway, such that when said cover is assembled to said handle said second groove formed in the cover is positioned adjacent said first groove in the handle, whereby said first suture passageway is defined by said adjacent grooves. 
     
     
         23 . A surgical instrument according to  claim 22  wherein the outer surface of said cover conforms to the adjacent surface of said handle.