A needle holder, also called needle driver, is a surgical instrument, similar to a hemostat

Hemostat

A hemostat , is a vital surgical tool used in almost any surgical procedure, usually to control bleeding. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see the initial incision lined with hemostats closing blood vessels awaiting ligation during the initial phases of surgery...

, used by doctors

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

s to hold a suturing needle for closing wounds during suturing and surgical procedures.

The parts of a simple needle holder are the jaws, the joint and the handles. Most needle holders also have a clamp mechanism that locks the needle in place, allowing the user to maneuver the needle through various tissues. To maintain a firm grip on the needle, the jaws are often textured and short compared to the handles (increasing the applied force following the principle of a lever

Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...

).