Abstract: The device of the present invention is designed for repairing a tear in soft and/or tough tissue of a patient, such as a tear in the meniscus of the knee. The device has a conduit, such as a cannula, that may be easily inserted into the patient and through which the fastener is delivered to the patient. This conduit is aligned with a seat for holding a fastener and the fastener is pushed, e.g., by a piston, from its seat and through the conduit and into the patient. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the shape of the conduit exactly matches the shape of the cross-section of the fastener so that the surgeon may more accurately direct the angle and location at which the fastener enters the patient.

Abstract: A one-piece suture anchor for anchoring a suture into a bone comprising an elongated body having proximal and distal ends, the body comprising at least one channel for receiving a suture, the channel comprising two elongated longitudinal guides continuing from the proximal end of the suture anchor towards the distal end of the anchor suture, wherein the guides are connected to each other by a section of channel that is configured such that it is not bent at any given point at an angle greater than or equal to ninety degrees.

Abstract: The Applicants' invention is a bioactive, biocompatible, bioabsorbable surgical composite that is fabricated bioabsorbable polymers, copolymers or polymer alloys that are self-reinforced and contain ceramic particles or reinforcement fibers, and also can be porous. The composite of the invention can be formed into devices like pins, screws, plates, tacks, bolts, intramedullary nails, suture anchors, staples, and many other devices, all of which are useful in bone-to-bone, soft tissue-to-bone or soft tissue-to-soft tissue fixation or in fixation of bioabsorbable and/or biostable implants in or on bone or soft tissue.

Abstract: This invention relates to bioabsorbable multi-layer two-dimensional composite devices and their method of manufacture by spot welding the layers of the device at designated points, which devices can easily be cut into any desirable form by a surgeon during operation on a patient.

Abstract: An at least partially bioabsorbable surgical fastener or device formed in the shape of a screw and washer system and the methods for manufacturing and using the same. The surgical fastener is particularly but not solely intended to be used to attach rotator cuff tendons to bone.

Abstract: The invention concerns a hydroxypropyl starch ester (HPS ester), compositions containing it, and a process for the preparation thereof. According to the invention, the molar substitution in the HPS ester is 2 at the most and the substitution degree in the ester group is at least 1. The HPS ester is prepared by hydroxypropylating a starch-containing base material in an aqueous alkanol medium. A starch component can be prepared of the HPS ester containing 90 to 60% by weight HPS ester and 10 to 40% by weight of a plasticizer. Compositions which are suited for, e.g., coating board or paper and for use as a component in labelling adhesives or paint, can be made from the starch component by combining it with auxiliaries known as such within the polymer and plastics technology.

Abstract: This invention describes a rigid layered composite material including a bioabsorbable plate layer and a bioabsorbable web layer for guided bone tissue regeneration, particularly suited for use in the treatment of cranial bone defects.

Abstract: According to the present invention, a flexible, fibrous hernia mesh is provided, which is intended to be implanted to close hernia defects. The mesh has at least two functional components or layers: (1) a rapidly degradable first layer and (2) a more slowly degradable (with respect to the first layer) second layer. Using the fibrous mesh of this invention, the hernia defect can be closed so that a) the second layer supports the area until the scar tissue is strong enough (around 6 months), to prevent recurrent hernia formation, b) while the more rapid degradation of the first layer induces scar tissue formation due to inflammatory reaction, and c) the second layer isolates the first layer from the abdominal cavity, preventing tissue to tissue adhesion onto the intestines. The mesh is placed on the uncovered fascia area with its more rapidly absorbable side (the first layer) towards the fascia.

Abstract: A fixation implant generally includes at least one shaft configured to securely fit into a hole formed in bone. The shaft is of sufficient length relative to the interior diameter of the hole and, in some preferred embodiments, has locking protuberances, like threads, ridges, or barbs, that resist removal of the shaft from the hole in the bone when different types of forces, such as tensile or bending forces, are applied to the implant. The shaft is generally cylindrical in shape, however, in various embodiments, different cross-sections could be used. In a preferred embodiment the implant has a flattened and bent end portion emerging from only one side of the shaft. At the other side of the implant the outer surface of the shaft and the emerging end portion form a smooth surface, without any projections. This smooth surface at the end of the implant prevents irritation of the surrounding tissue.

Abstract: An at least partially bioabsorbable surgical fastener or device formed in the shape of a screw and washer system and the methods for manufacturing and using the same. The surgical fastener is particularly but not solely intended to be used to attach rotator cuff tendons to bone.

Abstract: The invention relates to a biodegradable implant or the like manufactured of polymer-based material and intended to be installed in tissue conditions. In the macroscopic structure of the implant two or several zones are created in a manner that the biodegradable polymer-based material has in different zones a different detaching time from the macroscopic structure under tissue conditions.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to body tissue fixation systems, including body tissue fixation hardware comprising biocompatible, bioabsorbable (resorbable) thermoplastic plates, and methods of using those systems and hardware.

Abstract: A tool for installing a suture anchor which supports first and second suture segments having free ends, the tool including an installation end adapted to accommodate the suture anchor and to transmit mechanical power for driving the suture anchor, and a guiding arrangement adapted to guide and support the first and second suture segments in a non-parallel configuration at the installation end. The guiding arrangement may include at least one suture guide adapted to support the first and second suture segments, respectively, at least at a first and a second support points, which are spaced laterally with respect to a direction of installation of the suture anchor.