Suture thread for intracardiac suture operation

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a suture thread which makes it possible to perform intracardiac suture procedure easily and smoothly.
The above and other objects are achieved by providing a guide element on a thread.
According to the present invention, there is provided a suture thread for intracardiac suture operation, which comprises a thread guide element and a thread joined to a rear end thereof, said thread guide element being composed of a slender straight member of a super-elastic alloy wire and a looped member of a super-elastic alloy wire provided at a front end of the straight member, said straight member having the outermost layer of a coating of a lubricating material.
The thread guide element may be further provided at its rear end with a looped member of a super-elastic alloy wire, to which a suture thread may be attached.
As the super-elastic alloy, it is preferred to use an alloy selected from the group consisting of Ti-Ni, Cu-Zn-Al and Cu-Al-Ni alloys.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become clear from the following description taken in conjunction with a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention.