Apparatus and methods to reduce ventricular volume are disclosed. The device takes the form of a transventricular anchor, which presses a portion of the ventricular wall inward, thereby reducing the available volume of the ventricle. The anchor is deployed using a curved introducer that may be inserted into one ventricle, through the septum and into the opposite ventricle. Barbs or protrusions along the anchor body combined with a mechanical stop and a sealing member hold the device in place once deployed.

Systems and methods are provided for percutaneously suturing tissue. An elongated deployment member having a guide member coaxially disposed over a shaft member may be used to carry a needle deployment member. The needle deployment member may be carried at a distal end of the elongated deployment member and include a plurality of needles releasably secured to the needle deployment member, wherein each needle is routed coaxially within the distal end of the needle deployment member. The needle deployment member may further include a needle pusher driven by a link coaxially disposed within the shaft member, wherein the needle pusher is configured to advance each needle through the distal end of the needle deployment member and coaxially over the proximal end of the needle deployment member to position the plurality of needles at a piercing angle in a proximal direction.

An assembly includes a flexible fixation member, a suture, and a delivery device. The fixation member includes a body with two terminal ends. A suture passes through the flexible fixation member at various points along a length of the body such that portions of the fixation member are slidable relative to the suture and configurable to form a cluster within a surgical site. The delivery device includes a tubular member, an elongated inserter, and a trigger. The elongated inserter is slidably disposed within the tubular member. The inserter has a forked distal end configured to receive a portion of the flexible fixation member and the suture. The trigger is finger-engagable and fixedly coupled to the proximal end of the inserter. It is configured to advance and retract the inserter relative to the tubular member. The trigger includes a retention member for retaining a proximal end portion of the suture.

Suturing apparatuses configured to suture biological tissue, such as an anatomical valve. The suturing apparatuses can comprise an elongate member having a proximal end, a distal end, one or more arms, and one or more needles. A protective member may be used to inhibit contact between a distal end of a needle and surrounding tissue. Methods for suturing bodily tissue such as an anatomical valve may be performed with the suturing apparatuses. The suturing apparatuses may be used to suture adjacent valve leaflets or the base of a valve in order to treat or repair the valve.

Disclosed are devices and methods for delivering several sutures accurately and simultaneously around the perimeter of an annular prosthetic device (prosthetic heart valve, annuloplasty ring, etc.) to secure the prosthetic device within a native heart valve region. Devices can comprise a proximal handle portion including an actuator and a distal suturing portion including several curved and straight needles arrayed around the shaft axis. The straight needles and the curved needles are configured to simultaneously guide a plurality of sutures through the native tissue and through the annular prosthetic device. The actuator can cause the straight needles to move axially relative to the curved needles and can also cause the curved needles to rotate, such that the motions are coordinated to simultaneously place all the sutures.

A surgical access device is disclosed and includes a housing, a cannula, a guide, and an expandable member. The cannula extends distally from the housing and defines a longitudinal axis. A wall of the cannula includes a first slot defined therein. The guide is engagable with the housing and defines a first channel. The first channel is disposed at a non-parallel angle relative to the longitudinal axis. The expandable member is disposed adjacent a distal portion of the cannula and is transitionable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration. A first surgical instrument is insertable through the first channel of the guide and through the first slot of the cannula.

A suturing device for minimally invasive surgery is disclosed. The device has at least one ferrule holder. The device also has a latch spring comprising at least one latch biased to cover the at least one ferrule holder. The device further has a needle comprising one or more curved needle arms. The device also has a needle control wire coupled to the needle for moving the one or more curved needle arms on an arcuate path through a tissue gap. The device further has a cam coupled to the needle control wire for selective engagement with a follower region on the latch spring.

Disclosed herein are minimally invasive systems and methods for intravascularly accessing the heart and performing a transcatheter repair of a heart valve by inserting a suture as an artificial chordae into a heart valve leaflet. In various embodiments, such systems and methods can be employed in other heart valve repair procedures such an edge to edge repair to coapt leaflets by inserting one or more sutures that retain the leaflets in a coapted positioned or inserting a suture to repair a tear in a leaflet, for example.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a subcutaneous implant delivery apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a receiving portion configured to receive a subcutaneous implantable device; and a stabilizing portion configured to cooperate with the receiving portion to hold the subcutaneous implantable device in a fixed position. The receiving portion and the stabilizing portion are movable relative to each other between a released configuration, wherein the receiving portion and the stabilizing portion are configured to move apart from each other to allow the receiving portion to be inserted under a skin layer, and a closed configuration, wherein the receiving portion and the stabilizing portion are configured to move toward each other to allow the subcutaneous implantable device to be held adjacent to the skin layer. According to further embodiments of the present invention, a method of delivering a subcutaneous implantable device for accessing a vascular site is also provided.

A suturing system including a sheath, a handle assembly proximal the sheath, an elongate body disposed between the sheath and the handle, a plurality of needles disposed distal the elongate body in a pre-deployed configuration and movable into the elongate body in a deployed configuration, each of the plurality of needles including a needle tip, each needle tip being orientated proximally towards the elongate body in the pre-deployed configuration, and a needle capture assembly disposed between a distal end of the elongate body and the handle, the needle capture assembly including two needle engaging edges longitudinally spaced with respect to each other, with each being configured to interlock with at least one of the plurality of needles.