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Abstract

The suture delivery system utilizes two sutures. Each suture has a filament body and a toggle bar. The delivery system includes an elongated central tube with two needle retainer guides and a cam distally disposed on the central tube. The needles have piercing needle ends and each needle end carries a respective toggle bar for a suture disposed thereon. A longitudinally movable member is coupled to the needles. The needles are movably disposed in respective needle retainer guides. An actuator is coupled to the movable member such that when the actuator moves, the needles extend outward such that the needle ends move over the cam. In a further embodiment, the actuator includes a first user actuation surface coupled to the movable member and the central tube includes a second user actuation surface which is generally static. In a further embodiment, a locking member is disposed on the second user actuation surface. The cam may take one of a variety of shapes. Essentially, the needle ends splay outward and forward, distally over the cam. In a preferred embodiment, the movable member is biased with respect to the central tube such that the delivery system is biased to place the needles in the proximal position and the needle ends are substantially captured in the guides. A method for embedding sutures in a vascular wall or other biological substructure is also included.

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First Claim