Suture anchor assemblies and associated methods for performing tissue repairs

Abstract

Suture anchor assemblies are provided for performing surgical tissue repairs. The proposed suture anchor assemblies may be utilized for reducing and fixating tissue to the bone, for example. Additional suture anchors may be used in combination with the suture anchor assembly as part of a multi-row fixation technique for providing a desired area of footprint compression over top of the tissue.

Description

SUTURE ANCHOR ASSEMBLIES AND ASSOCIATED METHODS FOR PERFORMING TISSUE REPAIRSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[oooi] This application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Application No. 63 / 603,263, which was filed on November 28, 2023 and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of surgery, and more particularly to suture anchor assemblies and associated surgical methods for performing various tissue repairs.

[0003] Repetitive trauma to a joint, such as a knee, ankle, hip, or shoulder joint, for example, may result in the development of tissue defects (e.g., soft tissue tears, cartilage defects, etc.). If not treated, tissue defects could further deteriorate, thereby causing joint instability and discomfort.SUMMARY

[0004] This disclosure relates to suture anchor assemblies for performing various surgical tissue repairs. The proposed suture anchor assemblies may be utilized for reducing and fixating tissue to the bone. Additional suture anchors may be used in combination with the suture anchor assembly as part of a multi-row fixation technique for providing a desired area of footprint compression over top of the tissue.[ooos] An exemplary suture anchor assembly may include, inter alia, an anchor portion, a disk portion having an embroidered body, and a suture passed through the anchor portion and the disk portion.

[0006] An exemplary surgical method may include, inter alia, inserting a suture anchor assembly through a tissue and into a bone underlying the tissue. The suture anchor assembly includes an anchor portion and a disk portion having an embroidered body.

[0007] The embodiments, examples, and alternatives of the preceding paragraphs, the claims, or the following description and drawings, including any of their various aspects or respective individual features, may be taken independently or in any combination. Featuresdescribed in connection with one embodiment are applicable to all embodiments, unless such features arc incompatible.

[0008] The various features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary suture anchor assembly for performing surgical tissue repairs.[oooio] Figure 2 is a top view of the suture anchor assembly of Figure 1.[oooii] Figure 3 schematically illustrates an exemplary use of the suture anchor assembly of Figures 1-2 for performing a surgical method for attaching tissue to bone.

[0012] Figure 4 schematically illustrates another exemplary use of the suture anchor assembly of Figures 1-2 for performing a surgical method for attaching tissue to bone.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] This disclosure is directed to suture anchor assemblies for repairing tissue defects within a joint. The suture anchor assemblies system and methods described herein may be utilized to reduce, fixate, and compress tissue to bone. These and other features of this disclosure are described in further detail below.

[0014] An exemplary suture anchor assembly may include, inter alia, an anchor portion, a disk portion having an embroidered body, and a suture passed through the anchor portion and the disk portion.[ooois] In any further embodiment, the disk portion is integrally formed with the anchor portion to establish an integrated, single-piece structure.

[0016] In any further embodiment, the anchor portion includes a sharp distal tip configured to pierce through tissue.

[0017] In any further embodiment, the anchor portion includes a plurality of bone engagement features configured to engage a bone wall when the suture anchor assembly in inserted into a bone.[ooois] In any further embodiment, a cannulated passage extends through the anchor portion and is configured for accommodating the suture.

[0019] In any further embodiment, the suture is connected to a proximal eyelet of a sharp distal tip of the anchor portion.

[0020] In any further embodiment, the disk portion includes a first opening and a second opening.

[0021] In any further embodiment, a first suture tail of the suture is received through the first opening, and a second suture tail of the suture is received through the second opening.

[0022] In any further embodiment, the embroidered body is flexible relative to the anchor portion.

[0023] In any further embodiment, the embroidered body is configured as an absorbable substrate for absorbing autologous conditioned plasma.

[0024] An exemplary surgical method may include, inter alia, inserting a suture anchor assembly through a tissue and into a bone underlying the tissue. The suture anchor assembly includes an anchor portion and a disk portion having an embroidered body.

[0025] In any further embodiment, the disk portion is integrally formed with the anchor portion to establish an integrated, single-piece structure.

[0026] In any further embodiment, the suture anchor assembly is pre-loaded with a suture.

[0027] In any further embodiment, the suture is connected to a proximal eyelet of a sharp distal tip of the anchor portion.

[0028] In any further embodiment, the suture extends through a cannulated passage of the anchor portion.

[0029] In any further embodiment, inserting the suture anchor assembly includes inserting the suture anchor assembly through the tissue and into the bone using a transtendinous approach.

[0030] In any further embodiment, inserting the suture anchor assembly includes piercing through the tissue and into the bone with a sharp distal tip of the anchor portion.

[0031] In any further embodiment, the surgical method includes inserting a suture anchor into the bone at a position that is lateral to the suture anchor assembly, and connecting a suture of the suture anchor assembly to the suture anchor.

[0032] In any further embodiment, the surgical method includes connecting a suture of the suture anchor assembly to a suture anchor, and inserting the suture anchor into the bone at a position that is lateral to the suture anchor assembly.

[0033] In any further embodiment, the surgical method includes removing a suture of the suture anchor assembly either before or after inserting the suture anchor assembly through the tissue and into the bone.

[0034] Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a suture anchor assembly 80 that can be used for performing various tissue repairs (e.g., rotator cuff repairs, Achilles tendon repairs, patellar tendon repairs, bicep repairs, triceps repairs, ACL / PCL reconstructions, hip and shoulder reconstructions, etc.). The suture anchor assembly 80 may include an anchor portion 82 disposed distally and a disk portion 84 disposed proximally. The disk portion 84 may be integrally formed with the anchor portion 82 to establish an integrated, single-piece structure of the suture anchor assembly 80.

[0035] The anchor portion 82 of the suture anchor assembly 80 may extend between a proximal end portion 86 that interfaces with the disk portion 84 and a sharp distal tip 88 located opposite from the proximal end portion 86. The anchor portion 82 may taper in a direction from the proximal end portion 86 toward the sharp distal tip 88. The sharp distal tip 88 may be configured to pierce or punch through tissue (e.g., ligament, tendon, graft, etc.) and into bone (e.g., any bone of the shoulder, knee, hip, ankle, etc.) without the need to pre-form holes in the tissue and bone for accommodating the anchor portion 82.

[0036] The anchor portion 82 may include a plurality of bone engagement features 90 that are designed to engage a bone wall when the suture anchor assembly 80 in inserted into the bone. The bone engagement features 90 can include barbs, circular ledges, threads, or any other type of bone engagement feature or combination of features.

[0037] A cannulated passage 89 may extend through the anchor portion 82 for accommodating a suture 92 of the suture anchor assembly 80. The suture 92 may include individual suture strands, multiple suture strands, suture tape, or any other suture-like product. The suture 92 may be pre-loaded on the suture anchor assembly 80. For example, the suture 92 may be received through a proximal eyelet 94 of the sharp distal tip 88 for slidably connecting the suture 92 relative to the anchor portion 82. The proximal eyelet 94 may be at least partially accommodated within the cannulated passage 89.

[0038] The anchor portion 82 may be made of a relatively rigid, biocompatible material, such as a biocompositc material or PEEK material, for example. However, other materials could be utilized to construct the anchor portion 82 of the suture anchor assembly 80.

[0039] The disk portion 84 of the suture anchor assembly 80 may include a first opening 96 and a second opening 98 that can be pre-formed through the disk portion 84. The first opening 96 and the second opening 98 may each receive a respective suture tail 99 of the suture 92. In an embodiment, the first opening 96 and the second opening 98 are round holes formed through the disk portion 84. However, other configurations are contemplated within the scope of this disclosure.

[0040] The disk portion 84 may include an embroidered body 85. The embroidered body 85 may be flexible to allow the disk portion 84 to push down and provide contact pressure flush against underlying tissue in order to improve footprint compression when the suture anchor assembly 80 is implanted. The disk portion 84 may be embroidered / woven from polyester or some other permanent or absorbable materials, molded / machined / 3D printed from a tissue compatible polymer, etc.

[0041] The embroidered body 85 may further serve as an absorbable substrate for absorbing a patient’s autologous conditioned plasma or biologies of choice if desired to enhance the biologies of the repair. The embroidered body 85 can provide for a longer duration of exposure of the repair to orthobiologics as compared to a simple injection at the repair site.

[0042] Referring now to Figure 3 (with continued reference to Figures 1-2), the suture anchor assembly 80 may be utilized as part of a single-row fixation technique for surgically securing a tissue 10 (e.g., ligament, tendon, graft, etc.) to a bone 12. The suture 92 can be removed from the suture anchor assembly 80 when performing such a single-row fixation technique. The tissue 10 may have tom away from the bone 12 during vigorous exercise or sporting activities, for example. When such tears occur, reattachment is often necessary to repair the tissue defect. Although described herein for reapproximating and fixating tom tissue back to bone, the surgical methods of this disclosure could be utilized to repair any type of tissue effect.

[0043] Notably, the various figures accompanying this disclosure are not necessarily drawn to scale. Some features may be exaggerated or minimized to emphasize certain details of a particular component, system, or method.

[0044] The sharp distal tip 88 of the anchor portion 82 of the suture anchor assembly 80 allows for a transtcndinous introduction of the suture anchor assembly 80 through the tissue 10 and into the underlying bone 12 without pre-forming holes in the bone 12. Once implanted, the anchor portion 82 of the suture anchor assembly 80 may provide inferior bone fixation, and the disk portion 84 of the suture anchor assembly 80 may provide superior fixation of the tissue 10 relative to the bone 12. Due to the flexible nature of the embroidered body 85, the disk portion 84 of the suture anchor assembly 80 can press down and provide contact pressure against the underlying tissue 10, thereby maximizing tissue-to-bone contact.

[0045] Referring now to Figure 4 (with continued reference to Figures 1-2), the suture anchor assembly 80 may alternatively be utilized as part of a double-row fixation technique for providing a desired area of footprint compression over top of the tissue 10. After implanting the suture anchor assembly 80 into the bone 12 using a transtcndinous approach, for example, the suture 92 of the suture anchor assembly 80 may be fixated laterally of the location of the suture anchor assembly 80 by using one or more additional suture anchors 100. The suture 92 may be connected to the suture anchor 100 either before or after implanting the suture anchor 100 into the bone 12 at the lateral location. The suture anchor 100 may be a knotless suture anchor that does not require the need to tie any knots in the various structures for reducing and securing the tissue 10 to the bone 12.

[0046] The surgical methods illustrated in Figure 3 and Figure 4 can be performed as an arthroscopic procedure by working through various arthroscopic portals. However, the exemplary surgical methods could alternatively be performed as an open procedure within the scope of this disclosure.

[0047] The suture anchor assemblies and surgical methods described herein may be utilized to approximate, fixate, and compress tissue to bone. The proposed systems and methods provide a single or multi-point fixation configuration for fixating tissue to bone. The suture anchor assemblies provide a flexible construct for maintaining footprint compression, thereby maximizing tissue-to-bone contact.

[0048] Although the different non-limiting embodiments are illustrated as having specific components or steps, the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to those particular combinations. It is possible to use some of the components or features from any of the non-limitingembodiments in combination with features or components from any of the other non-limiting embodiments.

[0049] It should be understood that like reference numerals identify corresponding or similar elements throughout the several drawings. It should further be understood that although a particular’ component arrangement is disclosed and illustrated in these exemplary embodiments, other arrangements could also benefit from the teachings of this disclosure.

[0050] The foregoing description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense. A worker of ordinary skill in the art would understand that certain modifications could come within the scope of this disclosure. For these reasons, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this disclosure.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A suture anchor assembly, comprising: an anchor portion; a disk portion having an embroidered body; and a suture passed through the anchor portion and the disk portion.

2. The suture anchor assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the disk portion is integrally formed with the anchor portion to establish an integrated, single-piece structure.

3. The suture anchor assembly as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein the anchor portion includes a sharp distal tip configured to pierce through tissue.

4. The suture anchor assembly as recited in any preceding claim, wherein the anchor portion includes a plurality of bone engagement features configured to engage a bone wall when the suture anchor assembly in inserted into a bone.

5. The suture anchor assembly as recited in any preceding claim, comprising a cannulated passage extending through the anchor portion and configured for accommodating the suture.

6. The suture anchor assembly as recited in claim 5, wherein the suture is connected to a proximal eyelet of a sharp distal tip of the anchor portion.

7. The suture anchor assembly as recited in any preceding claim, wherein the disk portion includes a first opening and a second opening.

8. The suture anchor assembly as recited in claim 7, wherein a first suture tail of the suture is received through the first opening and a second suture tail of the suture is received through the second opening.

9. The suture anchor assembly as recited in any preceding claim, wherein the embroidered body is flexible relative to the anchor portion.

10. The suture anchor assembly as recited in any preceding claim, wherein the embroidered body is configured as an absorbable substrate for absorbing autologous conditioned plasma.

11. A surgical method, comprising: inserting a suture anchor assembly through a tissue and into a bone underlying the tissue, wherein the suture anchor assembly includes an anchor portion and a disk portion having an embroidered body.

12. The surgical method as recited in claim 11, wherein the disk portion is integrally formed with the anchor portion to establish an integrated, single-piece structure.

13. The surgical method as recited in claim 11 or 12, wherein the suture anchor assembly is pre-loaded with a suture.

14. The surgical method as recited in claim 13, wherein the suture is connected to a proximal eyelet of a sharp distal tip of the anchor portion.

15. The surgical method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the suture extends through a cannulated passage of the anchor portion.

16. The surgical method as recited in any of claims 11 to 15, wherein inserting the suture anchor assembly includes: inserting the suture anchor assembly through the tissue and into the bone using a transtendinous approach.

17. The surgical method as recited in claim 16, wherein inserting the suture anchor assembly includes: piercing through the tissue and into the bone with a sharp distal tip of the anchor portion.

18. The surgical method as recited in claim 16, comprising: connecting a suture of the suture anchor assembly to a suture anchor; and inserting the suture anchor into the bone at a position that is lateral to the suture anchor assembly.

19. The surgical method as recited in claim 16, comprising: inserting a suture anchor into the bone at a position that is lateral to the suture anchor assembly; and connecting a suture of the suture anchor assembly to the suture anchor.

20. The surgical method as recited in any of claims 11 to 19, comprising: removing a suture of the suture anchor assembly either before or after inserting the suture anchor assembly through the tissue and into the bone.

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