Surgery – Instruments – Suturing needle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-24
2001-11-27
Jackson, Gary (Department: 3731)
Surgery
Instruments
Suturing needle
C606S222000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322581
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suturing needle for medical use having an improved bending strength and a reduced piercing resistance.
2. Description of Prior Art
Generally, a suturing needle for medical use is manipulated by a surgeon with a needle holder for clamping the needle, and the needle has a function of piercing an affected part of a body to pass a suture through the affected part. In addition, various kinds of the suturing needles for medical use with different configurations and sizes have been provided, and a suitable needle is selected among the suturing needles for medical use and is used according to the affected part to be sutured.
The suturing needle for medical use has a sharp needle tip at a tip end of the needle and has a needle tip portion formed at a predetermined distance from the needle tip, and the needle tip portion has, in sequence, a body portion and a distal end portion. A thickness of the needle tip portion has gradually increased from the sharp needle tip to the body portion, and each of the suturing needles for medical use has its own cross-sectional configuration. For example, a cross-sectional configuration of a needle tip portion may be polygonal, where a plurality of edges constituting the polygonal configuration form cutting edges; or a cross-sectional configuration may be circular with no cutting edges. The suturing needle for medical use with the cutting edge has a function of piercing a tissue with the needle tip and tearing the tissue; on the other hand, the suturing needle for medical use without the cutting edge has a function of pressingly widening the tissue to which the needle tip has pierced.
The body portion has a cross-sectional configuration extended from the cross section of the needle tip portion, or has a circular cross section, regardless of types of the cross-sectional configuration of the needle tip portion, and also the cross-sectional area of the body portion is constantly maintained. In particular, the suturing needle for medical use which even forms the cutting edge in the needle tip portion has no cutting edge in the body portion. In addition, the distal end portion is a portion to which a suture is coupled, and the distal end portion has a hole defined by a pair of hole supports having a spring property, or a blind hole formed in the distal end surface.
Specific examples of the aforementioned suturing needle for medical use will be explained. For example, a suturing needle for medical use disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) Showa No. 63-257539 is a spatulate suturing needle
51
structured for ophthalmic use as shown in FIG.
4
. In the spatulate suturing needle
51
, the cross section of a needle tip portion
51
a
is partially triangle shown in FIG.
4
(
c
) and quadrangle shown in FIG.
4
(
d
), and surfaces
52
constituting each of sides are formed as concave surfaces, and intersection of the above concaved surfaces forms each of ridgelines
53
as being acute. In particular, as for a portion corresponding to a body portion
51
b
as shown in FIG.
4
(
e
), each of the ridgelines
53
has a highly acute angle of a cutting edge or an angle according to the cutting edge. According to the above spatulate suturing needle
51
, since the acute ridgeline
53
passes through the tissue along the portion cut by the edge of the needle tip portion
51
a
, the portion thus injured can be reduced, and since contacting of the concave surface
52
with the tissue is reduced, the piercing resistance can be lowered.
In addition, a suturing needle
61
for medical use disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication (KOKAI) Showa No. 56-61212 is a needle where several convex portions
62
and concave portions
63
are alternately formed from a needle tip portion
61
a
toward a needle body portion
61
b
as shown in FIG.
5
. In this art, since the convex portions
62
and the concave portions
63
are corresponded with convex portions and concave portions formed in a needle holder (not shown) to be grasped, suturing operation can be made in a stable state.
When an affected part of a human body is to be sutured by the respective suturing needle for medical use as mentioned above, the needle becomes a cantilever bar where the portion to be clamped by the needle holder is served as a supporting portion and the needle tip portion is served as a loading portion, and therefore, a large flexure is produced in the portion clamped by the needle holder, with the result that the suturing operation may suffer. However, the respective suturing needles for medical use as mentioned above do not solve such a problem, and consequently, the idea of reducing the flexure is not disclosed.
It is necessary to improve strength of the material in order to suppress the flexure generated during the suturing operation. However, when the strength of the material is improved, fragility becomes increased, causing derivatively such a problem that the material is easily folded during the suturing operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a suturing needle for medical use, which improves a bending strength without derogating a ductility (repetition bending strength), and further reduces a piercing resistance.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a suturing needle for medical use (hereinafter referred to simply as a “suturing needle”) having a needle tip portion piercing a body tissue; a distal end portion to which a suture is coupled; and a body portion formed between the needle tip portion and the distal end portion, in which at least the body portion is constituted of a pair of surfaces opposing to each other, and a pair of grooves opposing to each other in a direction intersecting with the opposing to direction of the mentioned surfaces.
In the above suturing needle, a cross-sectional configuration of the body portion or a cross-sectional configuration from the body portion to the needle tip portion is formed by combining a pair of surfaces opposing to each other, with concave grooves formed in a direction perpendicular to the pair of surfaces. As a result, proper setting of a width size of the pair of surfaces as well as a face-to-face distance between the pair of surfaces can make a geometrical moment of inertia larger, as well as, can improve a strength with respect to bending. Consequently, when the above pair of surfaces is clamped by the needle holder for suturing an affected part of the human body, the flexure thus produced is made smaller so that a feeling of suturing operation by a surgeon is not affected.
In addition, when the aforementioned suturing needle is a curved needle having, as side surfaces, the pair of grooves, where a user manipulates a curved needle of the same kind with a snapping movement, the effect by the geometrical moment of inertia as mentioned above can be further advantageously utilized. In addition, the great advantage can be further obtained, when a relation between a width B and a height H of the cross section of the above body portion is B/H<1 where a curving direction of the mentioned suturing needle is set as a reference.
Each of the pair of surfaces opposing to each other may be a flat surface, a surface slightly convexed toward an outer periphery, or a surface slightly concaved toward the center. These surfaces are desirably formed in a process of manufacturing the suturing needle by a plastic processing, so as to increase a work hardening coefficient.
Furthermore, the suturing needle desirably has a curved surface with no edge respectively for the mentioned pair of grooves, and a curved surface for a connecting portion formed between the mentioned surface and the mentioned groove.
Since this structure results in no edge formed on the cross-sectional contour of the body portion, a portion on which tension is concentrated is hardly produced when the suturing needle is curved, thereby providing a suturing needle which is hard to be broken.
In additio
Fukuda Masatoshi
Matsutani Masaaki
Jackson Gary
Mani, Inc.
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