A device for positioning in the body of an animal, the device comprising a first portion and a second portion that may be positioned in contact with one other, the first portion and the second portion each comprising a biocompatible conductive thermoplastic material, such that when the device is positioned in the body of an animal and electric current flows from the first portion to the second portion, heat is generated by electrical resistance at the point of contact between the first portion and the second portion so as to melt regions of the first portion and the second portion, and when the electric current is thereafter terminated, the melted regions of the first portion and the second portion re-solidify so that a weld is formed between the first portion and the second portion.

Methods and devices are provided for anchoring suture to bone. In one exemplary embodiment, a cannulated suture anchor is provided and it includes a suture-engaging member formed therein and configured to receive a suture therearound such that trailing ends of the suture can extend through the suture anchor. The present invention also provides exemplary sutures and drivers that can be used with the various methods and devices disclosed herein, or with other methods and devices known in the art.

A medical device includes an energy delivery device. The energy delivery device has an elongate member, a first arm extending from the elongate member and a second arm extending from the elongate member. The first arm is configured to move with respect to the second arm. The energy delivery device includes an energy element. The energy element is configured to delivery energy to a portion of a filament when the filament is disposed between the first arm and the second arm. The energy device includes an actuation member. The actuation member is configured to move the first arm with respect to the second arm in response to the actuation member being actuated. The actuation member is operatively coupled to the energy element such that the energy element is activated in response to the actuation member being actuated.

Described herein are systems and methods for securing sutures that obviate the need for tying knots. Instead of tying two ends of a suture or two sutures together with a knot, two or more suture portions can be fused or cauterized together using heat. A device can be applied to adjacent suture portions that heats the suture portions and causes the suture portions to fuse together, effectively securing the suture portions together without a knot.

An implantable device for aiding in generating connective tissue between a pair of anatomical structures in a mammalian body is provided. The device includes an elongate, flexible tether which can be secured between the anatomical structures and which carries a scaffold which is generally porous so as to be capable of promoting tissue ingrowth and collagen deposition along its length. The scaffold extends along the tether for a sufficient distance so that it is securable in at least close proximity to an anatomical structure at either end. The pores in the scaffold extend through the scaffold and each has a diameter in the range of about 10 m to about 200 m. The length of the tether is selected to be a desirable maximum distance between the anatomical structures along a desired path when secured therebetween.

A closure device (320) is provided for suturing a puncture. The closure device (320) includes a suture (322, 822), an elongate support (328), a suture-positioning support (330), and an elongate dilator (344). The suture-positioning support (330) is coupled to a distal end portion (332) of the elongate support (328), laterally extendable with respect to the distal end portion (332) of the elongate support (328), and configured to removably receive the suture (322, 822). The dilator (344) is configured to be inserted through the puncture, and has a proximal end (348) that is coupled to the distal end portion (332) of the elongate support (328). The closure device (320) is configured to allow movement of the distal end portion (332) of the elongate support (328) with respect to the proximal end (348) of the dilator (344) with at least two degrees of freedom. Other embodiments are also described.

An embodiment includes an apparatus comprising: a hollow needle with a narrowed inner diameter in a distal third of the needle; and a flexible chord coupled to proximal and distal conduits; wherein the distal conduit is in the needle and distal to the narrowed inner diameter and the proximal conduit is in the needle and proximal to the narrowed inner diameter; wherein: (a)(i) long axes of the proximal and distal conduits are substantially parallel to a long axis of the needle when the proximal and distal conduits are in the needle, and (a)(ii) the proximal and distal conduits are configured to rotate when deployed from the needle such that their long axes are not parallel to a long axis of the chord when the chord is fully extended. Other embodiments are described herein.

Described herein are systems and methods for securing sutures that obviate the need for tying knots. Instead of tying two ends of a suture or two sutures together with a knot, two or more suture portions can be fused or cauterized together using heat. A device can be applied to adjacent suture portions that heats the suture portions and causes the suture portions to fuse together, effectively securing the suture portions together without a knot.

An atrial-appendage ligation treatment tool including: a shaft provided with a lumen having, at a distal end thereof, an opening having an opening diameter that allows passage of a thread of a ligation loop formed in a ring shape, which can be tightened, by connecting an end of the thread at an intermediate position by means of a knot and that does not allow passage of the knot; and a cutting part that is provided at a distal end of the shaft and that cuts, at an inner side of the opening and in the vicinity of the opening, the thread passing through the lumen.

Polymeric fibers, and apparatuses for and methods of processing such fibers to be useful as sutures, where at least one end of a fiber includes a termination feature. The termination feature is formed through the application of energy to a coiled region of the fiber.