Suture locking apparatus

Claim 2

A suture locking apparatus for use with a suture having a diameter and a plurality of spaced apart protrusions, said suture locking apparatus comprising: a base member having a horizontal plane and an aperture therethrough, said aperture having an attachment surface; a plurality of substantially rigid, triangular-shaped leaves, each of said leaves having a top and bottom surface, each of said triangular-shaped leaves having a base and an apex, and each of said leaves further having an attachment region, adjacent to said base; wherein, each of said leaves is attached to said base member at the attachment surface of said base member via said attachment region, such that said leaves form a polyhedron with the apex of each leaf immediately adjacent to the apex of the other, thus, said leaves providing a suture opening; and wherein at least one of said leaves articulates with said base, and with each leaf in an unstressed state having an angle defined by a plane coincident with the top surface of that leaf and said horizontal plane of said base, wherein the angle of each leaf is substantially equal to the angle of the other leaves and the angle of each leaf ranges from at least ten degrees but less than fifty degrees.

Claim 3

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein said leaves articulate with said base member via a flexible hinge section.

Claim 4

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein the angle is thirty degrees.

Claim 5

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein said apparatus is a single piece of molded plastic.

Claim 6

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein the number of leaves is at least four.

Claim 7

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein the number of leaves is three.

Claim 8

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein each bottom surface of each leaf defines a conical-shaped recess having an apex with the apex of said conical-shaped recess being substantial coincident with said suture opening.

Claim 9

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein said suture opening is dimensioned in accordance with the diameter of said suture.

Claim 10

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein the suture is a flexible member that can be knotted, and, wherein, the plurality of spaced apart protrusions are knots tied onto the member, said suture locking apparatus having said suture opening dimensioned to lock said apparatus to the suture via one of the knots.

Claim 11

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein the suture is a plastic filament, and, wherein, the plurality of spaced apart protrusions are regions of enlargement integral with the filament, said suture locking apparatus having said suture opening dimensioned to lock said apparatus to the filament via one of the regions of enlargement.

Claim 12

The suture locking apparatus of claim 1 wherein the suture is a flexible member that can be knotted, and wherein the plurality of spaced apart protrusions are substantially spherical structures that are attached to the flexible member, said suture locking apparatus having said suture opening dimensioned to lock said apparatus to the flexible member via one of the spherical structures.

Claim 13

A positioning tool for a suture locking apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said positioning tool comprising: a handle having a top end and a bottom end, also having an axial length with an opening therethrough, an extension tube having a suture end and a handle end, also having an axial length with an opening therethrough, wherein said opening of said handle and the opening of said extension tube communicates with one another, the handle end of said extension tube being attached to the bottom end of said handle; an apparatus holder having a top end and a bottom end, the top end being attached to the suture end of said extension tube, said holder having a suture locking apparatus recess adjacent to the bottom end, and also having an opening extending from the bottom end to the top end and in communication with the opening of said extension tube, said holder also having a first recess that corresponds to the geometry of the base member of said suture locking apparatus and a second recess that corresponds to the polyhedron formed by said leaves, wherein the first recess is dimensioned to releasably hold said suture locking apparatus such that said suture locking apparatus will be held while said suture locking apparatus is being positioned but will be easily released once said suture locking apparatus has been positioned, and wherein the second recess is dimensioned to be sufficiently larger than the polyhedron formed by said leaves such that said leaves are free to articulate with said base member of said suture locking apparatus when a suture is passed through the bottom of said holder through the suture opening of said suture locking apparatus, through said extension tube and handle, and exits the top end of said handle.

Claim 16

The method of claim 13 wherein the tissue members are menisci and the surgical procedure is arthroscopic surgery.

Claim 17

The method of claim 13 wherein the arthroscopic surgery utilizes an "outside-inside" technique.

Claim 18

The method of claim 13 further comprising the steps of repeating the aligning, tensioning, sliding and locking steps with a second suture locking fastener on the same suture.

Claim 19

The method of claim 16 wherein said second suture locking fastener contacts a different tissue member than the tissue member contacted by said first suture locking fastener.

Claim 20

The method of claim 16 wherein said second suture locking fastener contacts the same tissue member as said first suture locking fastener.