A surgical instrument may include a handle and an elongated shaft extending distally from the handle. The surgical instrument may also include a fastener deployment system for deploying fasteners from the elongated shaft including a reciprocating driveshaft disposed within the elongated shaft. The fastener deployment system may include a follower disposed within the elongated shaft for displacing one or more fasteners within the elongated shaft towards a distal fastener deployment position. The surgical instrument may include a removable preload lock-out attached to the elongated shaft to prevent the follower from applying a preload to the fasteners.

Articulating surgical instruments are disclosed. In one embodiment, a surgical instrument may include an elongated shaft assembly including an articulable portion moveable between a non-articulated configuration and an articulated configuration. First and second articulating shafts of the elongated shaft assembly may be coaxially arranged and axially fixed at an attachment point located distally from the articulable portion. Proximal portions of the first and second articulating shafts may be displaceable in opposing directions to articulate the articulable portion from the non-articulated configuration to the articulated configuration. In another embodiment, an articulation control may be movable from a first position to a second position to move an articulation lock from a locked configuration to an unlocked configuration to selectively permit articulation of a surgical instrument. The articulation lock also may be movable from the second position to a third position to articulate the surgical instrument.

Disclosed are embodiments of a method for occluding a left atrial appendage (LAA) and other cavities or openings within a body. Some embodiments of the method can include an implant configured to be deployed within the LAA or other cavity, configured to be expanded or moved against a wall portion of the LAA or other cavity, and configured to twist at least a portion of the LAA or other cavity when the implant is rotated. Thereafter, one or more securing elements, staples, sutures, or other fasteners can be implanted in the gathered tissue to hold the tissue in the gathered state, thereby occluding the opening of the LAA or other cavity. In some embodiments, the opening of the LAA or other cavity can be occluded by elongating or otherwise reshaping the opening using an implant device, and securing the opening in the occluded state.

A surgical clip applier having a housing containing a compartment, an elongated member extending distally from the housing, and first and second jaws configured to close a clip. An advancer is positioned within the housing movable between a first retracted position and a second advanced position, wherein in the second position, the advancer effects closing of the jaws to close the clip. A cover on the housing is openable to access the compartment within the housing. A power pack is removably loadable into the compartment and has a motor and an engagement member removably engageable with the advancer within the housing when the power pack is loaded into the compartment to effect movement of the advancer from the first position to the second position. A feed mechanism for feeding a clip into the jaws can be motor actuated.

Apparatus, systems, and methods are described for closing the base of a left atrial appendage or other tissue structure. A tissue closure device comprises a pair of legs having compliant surfaces for engaging against opposite sides of the tissue structure. A plurality of axially spaced-apart tissue-penetrating fasteners are delivered from one leg to the other to pierce the intervening tissue and hold the closure device in place on the tissue structure.

A system for performing angioplasty and a method of utilizing same are provided. The system includes a balloon mounted on a catheter shaft and an expandable constraining structure mounted over the balloon. The expandable constraining structure includes a plurality of axial struts crossing a plurality of radially-expandable rings being for constraining said balloon such that isolated balloon regions protrude through openings in said constraining structure when the balloon is inflated.

An anchor device configured to connect a plurality of tissues to each other, includes a shaft having a longitudinal axis; and a first anchor part and a second anchor part which are separated from each other and which are each formed in the shaft. The first anchor part includes a plurality of elongated anchor arms that are allowed to be expanded in a direction of separating from the longitudinal axis of the shaft toward the second anchor part with a first position of the shaft being a base point. The second anchor part includes a plurality of elongated anchor arms that are allowed to be expanded in a direction of separating from the longitudinal axis of the shaft toward the first anchor part with a second position of the shaft being a base point.

Within a delivery passage of a catheter, an elongated and flexible annuloplasty structure is transluminally advanced toward a heart of a subject while the annuloplasty structure is in a substantially linear configuration in which a distal end of the annuloplasty structure is closer than a proximal end of the annuloplasty structure to a distal opening of the catheter. Subsequently, the distal end of the annuloplasty structure is advanced, followed by the proximal end of the annuloplasty structure, out of the catheter and into an atrium of the heart. Within the atrium, the annuloplasty structure is transitioned toward a ring form by the distal end of the annuloplasty structure being brought towards the proximal end of the annuloplasty structure. While the annuloplasty structure remains in the ring form, the annuloplasty structure is placed against tissue of the annulus and is anchored to the tissue.

Provided is a system, a device, a cassette for use therein and method for suturing two tissue sections, for example two sections of a tissue, by using a plurality of consecutively-arranged anchoring units.

Surgical instruments and their methods of use are disclosed. In some embodiments, the surgical instrument may include a handle and an elongated shaft extending distally from the handle. The surgical instrument may also include a fastener deployment system for deploying fasteners from the elongated shaft including a reciprocating driveshaft disposed within the elongated shaft. In other embodiments, the fastener deployment system may include a follower disposed within the elongated shaft for displacing one or more fasteners within the elongated shaft towards a distal fastener deployment position. In some embodiments, the surgical instrument may include a magnetic preload lock-out to place the follower in a zero-load state in which the follower does not apply a preload to the fasteners.