Abstract: A bone cutting guide may include a support that contains a shaft movable relative to the support. The shaft may carry a guide member having one or more cut guides through which a clinician inserts a cutting member to cut bone positioned under the guide cut guides. In operation, a clinician may fixate the support of the bone cutting guide to a bone and translate the guide member until the one or more cut guides are positioned at a desired cut location. The clinician may then perform a cut through the cut guide. In some examples, the bone cutting guide includes additional components, such as bridging member or secondary cut guide, to provide additional functionality.

Abstract: Systems and methods for performing low-density parity-check (LDPC) coding may include a wireless communication device that determines a count of a plurality of information bits. The wireless communication device may select a codeword length according to the count. A LDPC encoder of the wireless communication device may generate a codeword for the plurality of information bits, the codeword having the codeword length. The wireless communication device may transmit the codeword to an LDPC decoder of another wireless communication device.

Abstract: An error rate measurement apparatus includes a display control unit, an operation display unit, and a control unit. The display control unit displays a firsts coefficient value in a selectable manner by tabs of a number corresponding to a Full Swing value, performs matrix display on a display screen by using each one of combinations of each second coefficient value and each third coefficient value in the first coefficient value on the selected tab, and displays each coefficient value on the display screen in a three-dimensional bird-eye view by using each second coefficient value and each third coefficient value as a combination of a horizontal direction coordinate axis and a vertical direction coordinate axis and using the first coefficient value as a depth direction coordinate axis. The operation display unit selects a range including at least one cell as a scanning target in the matrix display or a bird-eye display.

Abstract: Systems and methods for providing orientation data to a user during a medical procedure performed on a subject are provided. The system can include a medical device, an electrical component and a display device. The medical device is configured to engage a portion the subject and includes a handle. The electrical component is disposed within the handle and is configured to generate data related to an orientation of the medical device during the medical procedure. The display device is physically separate from the medical device and in communication the electrical component. The display device also includes a processor configured to receive and process the data related to the orientation of the medical device, and display information related to the orientation of the medical device to the user based on the data.

Abstract: A method for configuring a surgical guide and an associated implant. The implant and surgical guide are for maxillofacial osteosynthesis. Three-dimensional models of the pre- and post-operative anatomy are used to define attachment points. These attachment points are used to determine a structure for the implant and surgical guide.

Abstract: An implant for interbody fusion of vertebrae comprising a unibody cage structure having an enveloping cage volume and a minimized material volume. The cage structure comprises a first and a second generally planar ring member, each ring member formed from an opposing pair of lengthwise joists and an opposing pair of cross joists, the joists together forming a large opening through the ring member. The ring members are fixedly sandwiched on a plurality of support members, the support members holding the ring members in a spaced apart relationship to thereby provide a large void volume relative to the enveloping cage volume, to thereby allow for receipt of a large volume of bone graft within the cage structure.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method are provided for a sterile staple implant kit that a surgeon may unpack and utilize during a surgery. The staple implant kit comprises a group of complementary surgery-specific instruments that are packaged in a sterile state. An instrument tray is configured to preserve the instruments in the sterile state until the staple implant kit is opened during the surgery. The instrument tray is configured to provide the surgeon with easy access to the instruments during the surgery. The staple implant kit comprises at least a staple inserter and a surgical staple suitable for being implanted in parallel holes drilled across a bone fusion or fixation site of a patient. The surgical staple preferably is loaded in a relaxed configuration into the staple inserter. A staple retention clip retains the surgical staple in the staple inserter until the staple is distracted during the surgery.

Abstract: A bone repair device includes a plate having a pathway and a flexible structure. The plate includes opposing top and bottom surfaces and a first side extending between the top and the bottom surfaces. The flexible structure is directly attached to and extends from the first side of the plate. In operation, the bone repair device is placed around and over a plurality of bone parts. The plate is secured to the plurality of bone parts with a cable inserted through the pathway and wrapped around the bone parts.

Abstract: A method of performing bunion surgery in a manner that significantly reduces or eliminates the risk of damaging the medial dorsal cutaneous (MDC) nerve while shaving or removing prominent redundant bone is described. The method of performing bunion surgery disclosed herein includes a step wherein the distal incision may be formed at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the foot to enable insertion of the bur through the distal incision at the same or similar angle at which the incision is formed. Inserting the bur through an oblique distal incision decreases the risk of contacting the MDC nerve either during insertion or during the sweeping motion of the burr during resection of the prominent redundant bone. The oblique incision allows the bur to be placed higher on the foot, which prevents the surrounding skin from being shredded or burned by the bur during the sweeping motion.

Abstract: Disclosed is an operating method of a memory, and the operating method may include reading, from selected memory cells included in the memory, codewords including data and an error correction code; detecting errors in the codewords; correcting the errors in the codewords; re-writing the error-corrected codewords to the selected memory cells; re-reading the re-written error-corrected codewords from the selected memory cells; and determining whether the errors are permanent errors in response to a determination that an error is present in the re-read error-corrected codewords.

Abstract: Surgical instruments for performing wedge-shaped osteotomies are disclosed herein. One surgical instrument includes a body with a distal end, a proximal end, a bottom surface, and a top surface including a slope extending upward and along a single plane from the distal end to the proximal end. The surgical instrument further includes multiple columns of cutting blades positioned on the top surface in which each of the cutting blades are spaced apart and extend vertically along at least a portion of the slope from the distal end to the proximal end. Another surgical instrument includes the cutting blades positioned in multiple rows of cutting blades on the top surface such that the multiple rows of cutting blades extend along the slope from the distal end to the proximal end and each cutting blade in the plurality of cutting blades extends horizontally across the top surface.

Abstract: An embodiment includes a bone fixation system comprising: a bone anchor with a tapered head, the head being threaded; and a plate that includes a void, the void including one of a counterbore or a countersink; wherein: (a) no portion of the void is threaded; (b) the void includes an inner wall; (c) the inner wall includes reliefs along its perimeter. Other embodiments are described herein.

Abstract: Instruments, devices, systems and methods for maintaining, correcting and/or fusing joint deformities are disclosed. The system includes a first translation mechanism, a second translation mechanism coupled to the first translation mechanism, and a third translation mechanism coupled to the second translation mechanism, and a tower coupled to the third translation mechanism. Methods of assembling and using the alignment guides for maintaining, correcting and/or fusing joint deformities are also disclosed.

Abstract: A heater-cooler apparatus of an extracorporeal perfusion system comprises at least one fluid circuit (102, 104) providing a supply of a heat transfer fluid to the perfusion system, a cold storage unit (266), and a refrigeration unit (250) for charging the cold storage unit (266). The cold storage unit (266) comprises a chamber (312) containing a liquid that freezes at a temperature above that to which the heat transfer fluid is cooled by the refrigeration unit (250), and a passage through which the heat transfer fluid is conveyed, the passage extending through the chamber (312). This allows a more effective cold storage unit to be provided.

Abstract: A system is provided comprising a robotic instrument for use with a tool. In some versions, the robotic instrument comprises a hand-held portion to be held by a user and a tool support movably coupled to the hand-held portion to support the tool. A plurality of actuators operatively interconnect the tool support and the hand-held portion to move the tool support in three degrees of freedom relative to the hand-held portion. An optional constraint assembly may operatively interconnect the tool support and the hand-held portion to constrain movement of the tool support relative to the hand-held portion in three degrees of freedom. A guidance array assists users in positioning the tool and/or portions of the instrument.

Abstract: Sensing technology methods related thereto for determining cut through of bone and a depth of penetration of a working portion of a surgical instrument (e.g., an oscillating saw blade in a cut). A first sensor outputs a first signal representative of a displacement of the cutting edge of the saw blade in the cut. A second sensor outputs a second signal representative of a force applied to the cutting edge of the saw blade. As such, monitoring the first and/or second sensor may allow for the saw to be stopped upon completion of a cut (e.g., when the saw passes completely through a medium to be cut or upon reaching a predetermined depth for the cut).

Abstract: Gas-tight seal assemblies for use during minimally invasive surgery include various aspects. A wiper seal includes a sealing portion and a surrounding flex portion. Upper and lower faces of the sealing portions are angled with reference to an inserted instrument, the upper face's angle being more acute with reference to the instrument's shaft than the lower face's angle. The flex portion is corrugated, support ribs are in one or more corrugation grooves, and the support ribs allow the groove to easily collapse but resist the groove widening. The support ribs also prevent the sealing portion from inverting. An instrument insertion guide is positioned over the sealing portion and moves laterally with the sealing portion. A latch piece removably secures the seal assembly to a cannula. An anti-inversion piece prevents the wiper seal from inverting when an instrument is withdrawn.

Abstract: Coupling devices and related methods are disclosed herein, e.g., for coupling a surgical instrument to a navigation array or other component. The coupling device can reduce or eliminate movement between the instrument and the navigation array, improving navigation precision. The coupling device can be quick and easy to use, reducing or eliminating the need for extra steps or additional tools to attach or detach the instrument from the coupling device. In some embodiments, the single step of inserting an instrument into the coupling device can automatically lock the instrument within the coupling device in a toggle-free manner. The coupling device can include features for consistently attaching instruments thereto at a known or predetermined location and/or orientation.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are apparatuses and methods for intraoperative on-demand implant customization in a surgical setting. An apparatus may include a storage portion, an implant customization portion and an interface. The storage portion may house implant blanks and implant accessories. The implant customization portion may customize the implant blanks. The interface may be configured to receive implant customization information and utilize the same to intraoperatively manipulate the implant blank to a patient-specific implant within a sterile environment. A method to customize an implant in a surgical care environment may include the steps of obtaining information related to the implant location, selecting an implant blank based on the information, and customizing the implant blank in a surgical care setting with a customization apparatus.

Abstract: A bone plate includes a plate body defining an outer surface, an opposed bone-facing surface, and a combination hole comprising a locking hole and a compression hole that intersect one another and each extending from the outer surface to the bone-facing surface. The locking hole and the compression hole extend away from each other along a longitudinal axis. The plate body further defines a locking surface that defines the locking hole, and a second surface that defines the compression hole. The locking surface further defines a plurality of columns sequentially located about a central axis of the locking hole, a plurality of recesses located, respectively, between at least some of the columns, and plate threads that traverse each of the columns. Crests of the plate threads extend linearly from a first side of each column to a second side of each column.