Abstract: A sterile hemostatic clip made from polymeric materials having a pair of leg members connected by a resilient hinge. The distal ends of the leg members terminate in latch means. The outer surface of each leg member carries a suitable boss to allow the clip to be held and placed about a vessel to close the vessel utilizing a suitable instrument.

Abstract: An ear stud implacement system that embodies a guntype stud setting member wherein sterility in high hygiene conditions are maintained in the piercing of ears and the setting of studs or posts thereinto in secure relationship with the back clasp or nut of the stud or post. The improved system utilizes a stud gun having the components that come in contact with the earlobe and the like, that are disposable such that germs or even disease are not transmitted through the stud gun components from one person's ears to another's.

Abstract: A system of precision instruments for utilization in knee surgery, particularly for component replacement includes a series of alignment and cutting guides which function to align various necessary cuts of bone structure with respect to the ankle. The system in its preferred arrangement includes a cutting guide head mounted on an elongated, extensible support frame member having a laterally adjustable ankle guide for adjustably aligning the cutting heads for a proper angle of cut with respect to the weight bearing axis through the ankle and the hip joint. A tibial resection guide head with a cutting guide slot is fixed to the upper end of the elongated extensible support frame member and including a traction grip extending outward from the extendable support frame member for application of traction or tension to the collateral ligaments.

Abstract: An improved functional attachment system for osteosynthesis by means of compression plates. The plates have straight or angled construction and a major axis for placement approximately parallel to the major axis of a bone. The plate defines holes in the areas of both ends; the holes are elongated in a direction approximately parallel to the plate's major axis and are adapted for receipt and passage of anchoring screws for attachment to a bone. Once the compression plate is attached to a fractured bone by means of anchoring screws passing through the holes, the screws can slide the length of the elongated holes such that muscular contraction will be converted into a compression at the bone fracture.

Abstract: An intramedullar rod is formed as a hollow cylinder with slits therein that form a plurality of leaf spring members that bend inward when the rod is inserted into the medullary cavity of the bone.

Abstract: A surgical clip applying device having a main body, a clip magazine coupled to the main body for holding a plurality of clips, clip deforming jaws coupled to the main body for receiving and deforming clips, a clip loading mechanism for loading clips from the magazine to a clip feed blade which moves clips from the clip magazine to the deforming jaws, and a spring activated actuating mechanism. The clip loading mechanism includes a double ratchet apparatus coupled to a pawl for advancing the clips through the magazine. The actuating mechanism includes handle portions, a ratchet member having a cam follower which is coupled to a camming surface which is in turn coupled to one of the handle portions, a spring connected to the main body and the ratchet member, and a latch adapted to engage the ratchet member.

Abstract: Orthopedic surgical guide apparatus for guiding the coaxial drilling of two different-diameter bores required for the insertion of repair hardware used in the mending of a broken bone. The apparatus includes a first, planar guide element which a surgeon uses throughout a procedure, and a second, generally cylindrical guide element employed during the first part of a procedure. The first guide element includes a large-diameter guide bore sized to guide a surgical reamer. The second guide element includes a body portion sized to fit removably in such larger-diameter guide bore, and also include a central, small-diameter guide bore which is coaxial with the large-diameter bore with the two guide elements assembled. The small-diameter guide bore is sized to guide a surgical guide pin (drill).

Abstract: Apparatus that permits a hip surgery patient to be rotated to lie on his side while maintaining the affected leg in a desired degree of abduction and external rotation includes a splint portion that grasps the affected leg and that is secured to an elevating portion. The elevating portion includes a splint-mounting bar that is hinged to a stationary base that lies on the bed. The axis of the hinge is approximately colinear with the spine of the patient. The apparatus constrains the affected leg to move on an arcuate path as the patient is rolled onto his side whereby the affected leg swings to the elevated position. The elevating portion includes locking devices for maintaining the affected leg in the elevated position.

Abstract: A prosthetic gauge which is used for evaluating the fit of a prosthetic device against a receiving bone or cartilage surface. The gauge includes a portion for gripping and a contact portion extending from the gripping portion. The surface of the contact portion is predeterminedly contoured to conform substantially to the shape of the receiving bone or cartilage surface to be evaluated. The contact surface is a frosted or translucent surface which transmits and diffuses light so that the specific bone or cartilage surface being observed through the gauge cannot be seen clearly until actual contact is made between the contact surface and the articular surface. This aids the surgeon in more accurately determining the apparent contact area, and hence in evaluating the potential fit of the prosthesis.

Abstract: An intramedullary orthopaedic device for interconnecting bone fragments for union comprises an elongate member of plastics material having a relieved structure extending over its length but only partially therearound, each upstanding element being of transverse sizing to afford an interference fit by translation alone into a slightly undersized bone recess, such fit resulting from flexure of the elements without stripping bone material, and the unrelieved area of the member being of non-circular cross-section to inhibit rotation. The member is suitably of rectangular cross-section with sequences of fins having their longitudinal directions across the major side faces, and with the inter-sequence spacing and fin height each exceeding fin thickness.

Abstract: An improved surgical needle of the type having one or more cutting edges converging towards the needle tip and formed by the intersection of a plurality of planar surfaces, for use in cutting through hard body tissue material. The forward end of the needle has one or more smaller additional cutting edges located at the tip to aid initial insertion into the tissue. These additional cutting edges are formed by at least two additional intersecting planar surfaces at the tip portion. The needle is preferably curved in the reference plane defined by one of the cutting edges and the axis of the needle.

Abstract: A surgical compression plate is provided with at least one elongated screw hole with a sloping camming surface that bows outwardly to provide a constant torque until the screw is seated or a torque that increases gradually and then diminishes until the screw is seated, with a sudden increase in torque on seating, thereby to advise the surgeon that the screw has been seated.

Abstract: A process in which a shape memory alloy such as nitinol wire which has been previously fabricated in its parent phase to form a longitudinally oriented coil of adjacent wire loops and thereafter cooled to its martensite phase and reshaped to a relatively straight shape, is utilized as an intra-luminal device to reinforce or replace a weakened or otherwise damaged vessel. The reformable wire is inserted into the vessel in such a manner to be temperature insulated such that upon the removal of the insulation means, the wire reforms to its coil shape so as to be urged against the internal walls of the damaged vessel and supplies a patent channel through which body fluids may pass. In this manner, removal of the damaged portion of the vessel with the attachment of graft material as a replacement thereto along with the complex surgical techniques required to perform such is avoided.

Abstract: An improved sternal closure device and method for using the device is disclosed wherein a pair of thin rods of appropriate length are positioned longitudinally along respective opposite sides of a severed sternum on the posterior surface thereof. Individual wires secured at one end thereof to corresponding points along each rod are passed through matching holes on either side of the severed sternum to extend beyond its anterior surface. Opposing pairs of wires transversely oriented are tensioned to draw the sternum together and knotted thereby holding the sternum closed with forces applied by the wires and distributed along the length of the sternum via the rods. Alternatively, the wires may have looped inner ends that engage the rods on the posterior surface of the sternum for distribution of the closing forces.

Abstract: A cannula has a hub formed with a hollow upward projection on its top which communicates with a lumen having a bore in the hub and the cannula itself. On one side of the hub is a vane having converging sides and a rounded end. The vane has a horizontal opening extending inward and the portion above the opening is cut away so that it is about half the thickness of the portion below the opening. A stylet or an obturator fits through the hollow projection, bore and cannula, extending to the tip of the cannula. A hub on the stylet or obturator has a socket to receive the cannula hub projection and a vane formed with a cutout to receive the portion above the opening of the cannula hub, the portion of the stylet or obturator vane below the cutout locking in the opening in the cannula hub. A hollow needle also fits through the hollow projection, bore and cannula and has a hub formed with a socket to receive the hollow projection and a fitting for attachment to a syringe.

Abstract: In high tibial osteotomy a cross-shaped gauge having downwardly-depending side arms is positioned toward the end of the tibia, with the depending arms adjacent the arcuate path of the proposed saw cut. The cross-shaped gauge establishes a first indicia between said depending arms for positioning the arcuate axis of a semi-cylindrical saw, and a second indicia proximate the upper end of the longitudinal arm of the gauge for locating the saw arc. A saw blade of correct radius is then selected. The first indicia established by the gauge positions a first hole drilled through the bone for receiving a guide pin or rod, and the second indicia locates a second hole on the saw line for receiving a depth gauge. An arm on the depth gauge is aligned with a plurality of spacers placed on the aforementioned pin or rod, and the pin or rod is received along a cylindrical bore in the saw. When the saw is operated, the spacers arrest movement of the saw blade when it has passed through the bone.

Abstract: A surgical staple is disclosed comprising an arcuate central region which can be flattened by a stapling tool. Straight legs extend obliquely upwardly from the central region to which are connected downwardly extending side portions. The side portions are curved substantially in the form of an arc of a circle having a center at the center for the central region. When the central region is flattened, the side portions move about an arc of a circle so that automatic puncture channels are produced. Tearing of tissue is thereby prevented.

Abstract: A spinal correction assembly of the type primarily designed to correct deformaties of deformity the spine such as curvatures of the spine also known as Scoliosis and/or Kyphosis. A frame is structured to have mounted thereon, a plurality of reduction arms which in turn support spine embracing hook elements whereby the aforementioned components are each structured for adjustable positioning for the purpose of reorienting the spine by applying preselected force at the opposite end of the affected curved portion of the spine and a force in the opposite direction along the length of the curved portion of the spine. These forces serve to reduce or effectively eliminate the curvature wherein the spine embracing hooks are maintained in fixed alignment to one another until additional surgical procedure such as bone grafting is completed and healed.

Abstract: A drill guide device for bone plate fixation, consisting of an elongated drill guide block having a longitudinal recess for receiving and positioning a bone plate having screw openings. The guide block has spaced openings axially aligned with the bone plate screw openings and containing removable drill guide bushings. The guide block is longitudinally slotted at its ends for adjustable attachment to clamp blocks carrying respective bone-engaging scissor clamp assemblies connected by tie rods. The tie rods have oppositely threaded ends which are threadedly engaged with the respective clamp blocks. The tie rods have hexagonal center portions shaped for driving engagement by a wrench. The scissor clamp assemblies have upstanding opposite top handle portions connected by clamping screws, each clamping screw being pivotally connected to one handle portion and extending through the opposite handle portion. The outer end portion of each clamping screw is provided with a clamping nut.

Abstract: A wedge guide system of variable but precise angular dimensions that allows the excision of a precise bony wedge by the alternate use of arcuate (crescentic) and planar saws in a stable and accurate manner. Right and left sided wedges can be taken. The precise wedge can be angulated in respect to the long axis of the bone by a directional guide structure that complies with data for each surgical case enabling the surgeon to make triplanar bone corrections.