A suture attaching station attaches a needle and a suture to form a single combination. The setup of the crimping unit is facilitated by using an offline measuring fixture. The offline measuring fixture is calibrated by placing a precision gage block into the measuring fixture and then zeroing a digital measuring unit. The gage block is then replaced by the desired crimping die and the reading is noted as an offset for the servo drive of the suture attaching station. This offset is used to set the zero point of the crimping die centre.

A system for aligning a needle driver with a tip of a suture needle includes a suture needle package having a base, a needle driver alignment guide, and at least one connector for securing the suture needle. The needle driver alignment guide has first and second lateral guide walls that oppose one another for defining a needle driver guide channel. An end wall interconnects the first and second lateral guide walls for defining a distal end of the needle driver alignment guide. The at least one connector secures the suture needle over the base and controls the orientation of the suture needle so that a tip of the suture needle is located within the suture needle guide channel and is bounded by the end wall and the first and second lateral guide walls. A needle driver has a clamping assembly at a distal end that engages the end wall of the needle driver alignment guide for aligning the clamping assembly with the tip of the suture needle.

A machine for winding sutures into a suture tray package comprises a base platform, a plurality of package nests, a first workstation for placing an empty tray onto one of the package nests, a further workstation for feeding a needle with an attached suture in the tray and parking said needle in the tray, a winding station for winding the suture into a winding channel of the tray, a lid placement station for placing a lid onto one of the package nests, a lid attachment station for attaching the lid to the tray, and an offloading station for removing said trays from the package nests. The further workstation comprises two tweezer grippers, at least one of said tweezer grippers having a V- or U-shaped notch, said V- or U-shaped notch being located at the inside of the notched tweezer gripper facing the second tweezer gripper.

A surgical instrument comprising a shaft and an end effector is disclosed. The end effector is releasably attachable to the shaft by a lock biased into a locked condition to hold the end effector to the shaft.

A modular surgical apparatus is disclosed. Also disclosed is a modular incision apparatus. The modular incision apparatus may be used in a minimally invasive surgery. The modular incision apparatus includes a base having a pair of pivots, a pair of alignment tabs, a proximal opening, and at least one slide guide. The modular incision apparatus includes visual and cleaning access to the blade. The modular incision apparatus is suitable for safely, efficiently, and accurately making small incisions during surgical procedures. The modular incision apparatus provides a means of making small incisions of controlled depth, while reducing the chances of inadvertent exposure of surgical staff to sharp instrument.

Systems, devices and methods to improve safety and efficiency in an operating room comprise providing a suture package that holds new suture needles and needle receptacles for storing used needles. The devices can be safely worn for the surgeon to self-dispense new suture needles in the near surgical field and to secure the used needles into a needle trap or a needle retainer located on his extremity, on his operative instruments or on the surgical drapes. The device may provide automated and/or simplified needle counting both during use and after removal from the surgical field. The device may be configured for ergonomic and efficient use so as to minimize the actions and motions of the surgeon to dispense and secure the needle.

A suture anchor may include an anchor body having an exterior surface, a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis extending between the proximal and distal end, an interior longitudinal passageway extending at least partway from the proximal end toward the distal end, a proximal opening communicating with the longitudinal passageway nearer the proximal end, and a plurality of distal openings communicating with the longitudinal passageway nearer the distal end. The suture anchor may also include a suture routed through the plurality of distal openings, with a first portion extending within the longitudinal passageway between the proximal opening and the distal opening, a second portion, contiguous to the first portion, extending out of the anchor body, a third portion, contiguous to the second portion, extending within the longitudinal passageway proximally to distally, and a fourth portion, contiguous to the third portion, extending along the exterior surface distally to proximally.

A surgical instrument is disclosed comprising a shaft, an end effector, and an articulation joint rotatably connecting the end effector to the shaft. The surgical instrument further comprises an articulation drive system configured to permit high degrees of articulation.

A surgical clip applier comprising an electric motor system is disclosed. The electric motor system is configured to drive a clip firing system of the surgical clip applier. The surgical clip applier further comprises a control system configured to control the electric motor system. The control system is configured to monitor a strain gauge circuit to assess the crimping force experienced by the clip firing system. In at least one instance, one or more strain gauges are mounted to a drive shaft and/or jaw of the clip firing system. The control system modifies the operation of the surgical clip applier when the voltage of the strain gauge circuit exceeds and/or falls below a threshold. In at least one instance, the control system modulates the width, or duration, of voltage pulses applied to the electric motor system to control the speed of the electric motor system.

The present disclosure relates to a suture inventory management device that stores and dispenses individual units of sutures from a first compartment and stores boxes of units of sutures of the same type of sutures in a second compartment. In some embodiments, the suture inventory management device is a suture storage cart comprising suture storage systems. The suture storage systems including at least one pair of suture storage compartments, the pair of suture storage compartments comprising a bulk suture storage compartment and a suture unit storage compartment. Units of sutures are stored in the suture unit storage compartment and boxes of the same type of sutures are stored in the corresponding bulk suture storage compartments. The interior of the suture unit storage compartment has a hinged top lid transparent door that opens by sliding vertically and the bulk suture storage compartments are enclosed by transparent doors.