Methods for facilitating tissue puncture

1. A method of passing a suture through an intervertebral disc,

(a) positioning a tissue repair device through a defect in a wall of a tissue of an intervertebral disc;

(b) pulling said device such that a tissue supporting member of said device abuts a distal surface of the tissue wall and deflects said tissue wall proximally;

(c) assessing integrity of said tissue wall at or around the deflected tissue;

(d) selecting a puncturing site at or around said deflected tissue; and

(e) deploying a puncturing member of said device to puncture said tissue wall at said puncturing site and to deliver a suture through said puncturing site.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tissue is selected from the group consisting of an annulus fibrosis of an intervertebral disc, a nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc and a combination thereof.

3. A method of facilitating tissue puncture of a tissue wall of a body tissue to pass suture there-through, the method comprising:

applying an active resistive force against a surface of a wall of a tissue using a tissue supporting member to assess stiffness of the tissue to determine its ability to support a suture under tension; and

following the step of assessing the stiffness of the tissue, puncturing the tissue wall and passing the suture through the tissue wall, from a substantially unsupported opposite surface opposite said tissue supporting member, using a tissue puncturing member configured for applying a longitudinally directed tissue puncturing force against a region of said opposite surface.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the tissue comprises spinal tissue.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the tissue is selected from the group consisting of an annulus fibrosis of an intervertebral disc, a nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc and a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the tissue puncturing member is reciprocally moveable relative to the tissue supporting member for puncturing the tissue wall.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the steps of applying an active resistive force against a surface of the tissue wall using the tissue supporting member and puncturing the tissue wall using the tissue puncturing member are performed using a single medical device.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the puncturing force is less than or equal to a biasing force exerted against the tissue wall.

9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the steps of:

accessing a defect within the tissue prior the step of puncturing the tissue wall; and

delivering a fixation device through the puncture for repairing the defect.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fixation device comprises a tissue anchor.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fixation device comprises the suture.

12. The method of claim 9 , using a tissue repair device, the tissue repair device comprising a proximal portion coupled to a distal tip and a tissue receiving gap defined there-between, the distal tip defining the tissue supporting member, and the tissue puncturing member comprising a reciprocally moveable needle held within the proximal portion of the tissue repair device, wherein the step of accessing a defect is performed using the distal tip.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the steps of puncturing the tissue wall and delivering the fixation device are performed substantially simultaneously.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the fixation device comprises the suture coupled to the needle and wherein the step of puncturing involves advancing the needle and the suture coupled thereto, through the tissue wall.

15. A method of facilitating puncture in an intervertebral disc for suturing therein, a tissue of the intervertebral disc comprising a surface to be punctured and an opposing surface, the method utilizing a medical device comprising a tissue supporting member and a tissue puncturing member, the method comprising:

(a) positioning the tissue supporting member adjacent the opposing surface of the tissue;

(b) applying an active resistive force against the opposing surface using the tissue supporting member;

(c) assessing a stiffness of the tissue based on the amount of displacement of tissue in response to the application of the active resistive force, to determine whether or not the tissue can be punctured using the tissue puncturing member;

(d) if required, repeating steps (a)-(c) until a suitable puncture site is located; and

(e) puncturing the tissue at the suitable puncture site using the tissue puncturing member to pass a suture there-through.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of assessing the stiffness of the tissue is performed using a pressure transducer.

17. A method of facilitating tissue puncture of a portion of biological tissue forming the intervertebral disc using a device to enable suturing there-through for disc repair, the device comprising a tissue supporting member that is adapted to be placed in a distal position relative to a portion of the biological tissue and a tissue puncturing member that is adapted to be placed in a proximal position relative to the portion of the biological tissue, so that the portion of biological tissue is between the tissue supporting member and tissue puncturing member, the method comprising:

proximally pulling the portion of biological tissue using the tissue supporting member to assess an integrity of the tissue for supporting suture under tension during approximation of tissue; and

upon determining the tissue to be able to support suture under tension, advancing the tissue puncturing member in a distal direction such that the tissue puncturing member passes through the portion of the biological tissue, thereby puncturing the portion of biological tissue to enable suture to be passed there-through.