US 12,268,383 B2
Surgical suture management
Steven Bowers, Ponte Verde Beach, FL (US)
Assigned to Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Rochester, MN (US)
Appl. No. 17/599,131
Filed by Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Rochester, MN (US)
PCT Filed Apr. 14, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/028043
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 28, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/214548, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 22, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/834,277, filed on Apr. 15, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0151607 A1, May 19, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 17/06 (2006.01); A61B 17/30 (2006.01); A61B 34/30 (2016.01); A61B 90/92 (2016.01)
CPC A61B 17/06061 (2013.01) [A61B 17/06166 (2013.01); A61B 17/30 (2013.01); A61B 34/30 (2016.02); A61B 90/92 (2016.02); A61B 2017/0618 (2013.01); A61B 2017/306 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for managing surgical sutures in a robot-assisted surgical operation, the apparatus comprising:
an elongate ridge configured to be pierced by one or more surgical needles and to removably retain the one or more surgical needles that are pierced into the elongate ridge, wherein a length of the elongate ridge extends along two sides of the elongate ridge from a first end of the elongate ridge to a second end of the elongate ridge, wherein the first and second ends of the elongate ridge are spaced apart from each other at opposite ends of the elongate ridge, and wherein the length is greater than a height and a width of the elongate ridge; and
a flexible base attached to the elongate ridge and configured to removably mount the elongate ridge to a body structure, the flexible base including:
a first side wing having a trapezoidal shape that extends laterally outward and downward from a bottom of a first side of the two sides of the elongate ridge; and
a second side wing having a trapezoidal shape that extends laterally outward and downward from a bottom of a second side of the two sides of the elongate ridge,
wherein the first and second side wings define a concave bottom surface of the flexible base whereby the flexible base is a suction cup,
wherein the apparatus is reconfigurable between: (i) a low-profile arrangement in which the first and second side wings are contracted toward the elongate ridge such that the apparatus can be passed through a trocar or body incision and (ii) an expanded arrangement in which the first and second side wings are extended away from the elongate ridge.