Abstract: A hollow disposable sleeve suction retractor. The sleeve suction retractor is an ergonomically shaped combination suction/retractor instrument for holding and retracting tissues, suctioning tissue pieces, blood and fluids and a surgical smoke plume from an electrosurgery device all at the same time. The suction sleeve retractor is comfortable to hold securely and allows a surgeon a clear line of sight on an area of tissue dissection. It can be used without the need for having another hand (e.g., surgeon's or an assistant, etc.) sponge or separate suction devices in a wound. It is economical to purchase and does not have to be sterilized or autoclaved since it disposable.

Abstract: A delivery system includes a reservoir for storing pressurized fluid and a piston rod passing through the reservoir and having an end portion with a dimension larger than the piston rod. A sleeve is configured to engage the end portion of the piston rod such that when the piston rod is advanced, the end portion seals an opening in the sleeve. The sleeve and the end portion function as a piston for extracting fluid from a delivery chamber. When the piston rod is retracted, the sleeve engages a portion of the end portion to permit the reservoir to communicate with the delivery chamber through the opening. Methods of use are disclosed.

Abstract: A medical instrument serves for cutting off tissue and cartilage from a body. It comprises an outer shaft having at least a first window in a distal end area thereof. A hollow inner shaft is received within the outer shaft and can be rotated about a longitudinal axis of the outer shaft. The hollow inner shaft has at least one opening cooperating with the at least one window of the outer shaft in a cutting action when turning the inner hollow shaft. A further window is provided in the distal end area of the outer shaft which further window is surrounded by a curette having a separating edge. Tissue and cartilage separated by the curette can be cut into small pieces by the cutting edges of the rotatable inner shaft and then be sucked in through an opening of the inner hollow shaft.

Abstract: A device for preparing multiple channels in a bone comprises a handle, a single guiding sleeve mounted removable at said handle and an arm projected from said handle. Said single guiding sleeve comprises a central first guiding channel for receiving a first aiming wire, a second guiding channel for receiving a further aiming wire, said channels have parallel axes. At least one cannulation is provided, a central longitudinal axis thereof runs at a distance and parallel to the guiding channels. Said at least one cannulation being arranged offset in a circumferential direction to said second channel. An aiming wire introduced in said second channel can be replaced into a cannulation by pulling off the guiding sleeve turning it about the first aiming wire and reinserting the turned guiding sleeve into said handle.

Abstract: A surgical portal apparatus includes a housing and a cannula member. The housing includes a seal mount and a flexible housing wall. The cannula member is connected to the housing and defines a longitudinal axis and passageway. The seal mount has an internal seal. The flexible housing wall is dimensioned to permit both axial and radial movement of the seal mount with respect to the longitudinal axis between a first position of the seal mount and a plurality of second positions of the seal mount. The seal mount may be biased by a biasing member toward the first position. In an embodiment, the biasing member is a spring that is engageable with the cannula member and the seal mount.

Abstract: A screw system includes a screw and a washer assembly captive to the screw. The washer assembly is polyaxially pivotable relative to the screw. The screw may be freely rotated in one direction relative to the washer assembly, but frictionally binds with the washer assembly when rotated in a second direction. A cannula insertion system includes an instrument and a cannula. The instrument may include a dilator. The cannula insertion system may have a locked setting in which the dilator is fixed relative to the cannula, and an unlocked setting in which the dilator is slidable relative to the cannula. A surgical method uses the cannula insertion system to implant the screw system.

Abstract: A reference guide tool for conforming a bone plate can include a series of bone templates, each having a distinct three-dimensional shape that replicates portions of various clavicles. Each bone template of the series of bone templates can have a plate engaging surface that is configured to engage a bone plate and provide a reference for the bone plates during structural modification of the bone plate.

Abstract: An orthopedic implant, illustratively a spinal staple, including pre-attached fasteners.

Abstract: Systems and methods for treating vertebral compression fractures are discussed. In an embodiment, a method includes mixing bone cement precursors thereby causing a first chemical curing reaction characterized by a first time-viscosity profile, controllably applying energy to the bone cement from an external source to modify the first time-viscosity profile to a second time-viscosity profile, and injecting the cement into bone at a substantially constant viscosity greater than about 1000 Pa·s to greater than about 5000 Pa·s over an extended working time. In another embodiment, a bone cement injector system is provided that includes a first handle component that is detachably coupled to a second sleeve component having a distal end for positioning in bone and a flow channel extending through the first and second components. The system includes first and second thermal energy emitters for delivering energy to bone cement flows in a flow channel portion in the first and second components, respectively.

Abstract: A tool for drilling bone tissue, which has the advantage of having a cutting tip with a flat effective shape that prevents perforation of the Schneider membrane or injury to the dental nerve when drilling close to them. The tool is disposed along an longitudinal axis and includes a non-cutting main body, a narrowed area for retaining bone and a cutting tip, which includes cutting blades, each one of which is provided with a front cutting edge substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and a substantially lateral cutting edge that forms an angle of between 0 and 10° with the longitudinal axis. Spaces for receiving bone are disposed between the cutting blades and are connected to the narrowed area.

Abstract: The present invention provides a unique way to provide a self-locking screw opening that has no separate parts. The self-locking feature (20) is formed in the wall (11) of the screw receiver opening (12) and automatically locks a screw (100) from backing out. During insertion of the screw (100) into bone, the screw head (110) passes one or more, preferably two nubs (20) or one or more projections (20) formed into the surface wall (11) of the receiver opening (12), and as the screw (100) is threaded into the bone, the screw head (110) contacts the nubs (20) or projection (20) and the screw (100) is deflected slightly in a direction opposite the nubs (20) or projection (20) allowing the screw head (110) to pass by the nubs (20) or projection (20) locking the screw (100) from backing out.

Abstract: A template for use with an instrument to drill a hole in a surface at a desired location. The template includes a body which has a negative impression of the surface, and a guideway having a first end positioned to open onto the desired location when the body is placed in conforming contact with the surface and a second end positioned on an exterior surface of the body. The second end of the guideway is connected to the first end by a passage. The guideway is preferably positioned in a portion of the template which is removable from the remainder thereof. The template also includes a stop for limiting the depth of penetration of the drill bit into the hole, a first fastener for attaching the stop to the body and a second fastener for fastening the removable portion of the template to the remainder of the template.

Abstract: An orthopedic instrument for knee arthroplasty includes an anterior-posterior sizer assembly, a tensor assembly and a rotation mechanism. The sizer assembly includes a stylus, a sizer body including medial and lateral posterior feet extending substantially perpendicularly from the sizer body, and a sizer slider that can slide relative to the sizer body along a medial-lateral direction relative to a patient's knee. The tensor assembly includes a tensor frame having a central portion, medial and lateral wings extending at an angle from the central portion, and medial and lateral posterior feet extending substantially perpendicularly to the central portion. The rotation mechanism includes a portion coupled to the tensor frame of the tensor assembly and a portion coupled to the sizer body. The rotation mechanism is configured to rotate the medial and lateral posterior feet of the sizer body relative to the tensor frame toward a lateral side of the patient's knee.

Abstract: An insertion instrument for inserting an orthopedic implant into a bone and guiding an implant attachment element into the bone comprising: a body having a first end and a second end and a bore extending along a central axis; a fixed arm and a deflectable arm coupled to the body second end, the fixed arm spaced from the deflectable arm forming an attachment element receiving passageway therebetween extending along the central axis, the fixed arm having an implant engaging free end spaced a fixed distance from the central axis; and an actuator mounted on the first end of the body for moving the deflectable arm away from the fixed arm while allowing the attachment element to traverse the passageway.

Abstract: A spinal surgery tool system including an elongated conduit and an implant is disclosed. The implant assumes a straight configuration within the elongated conduit and is deployable from the elongated conduit into a closed or nearly-closed loop configuration for deployment interposed between two tissue surfaces to define an enclosed volume. The conduit and the implant are configured such that, when the implant is deployed in the loop configuration, an opening formed in a proximal portion of the implant forms a contiguous channel with a passageway along the conduit so as to provide a continuous access channel along the elongated conduit into the enclosed volume.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an image-based, patient-specific medical spinal surgery technique and to a spinal prosthesis used in the surgery, and particularly, to an image-based, patient-specific medical spinal surgery technique and to a spinal prosthesis which are intended to solve a problem of damage to a spine caused by installing a spinal prosthesis used in spinal surgery, by introducing an image of a patient to manufacture an insertable spinal prosthesis that is customized for a shape of a spine of an individual patient in a polymer-based material.

Abstract: A directed structure placement guide assists with positioning at least one directed structure in at least one of a predetermined insertion trajectory and a predetermined insertion location with respect to a patient tissue surface during preparation of the patient tissue surface to receive an implant. The implant has a tissue-contacting surface. A guide base has a distal base surface mimicking the structure of at least a portion of a tissue-contacting surface of the implant. The guide base also has a proximal base surface longitudinally spaced from the proximal base surface. At least one insertion guiding structure is movably supported by the guide base and is adjustable into a guiding configuration in which at least one of the predetermined insertion trajectory and the predetermined insertion location is selectively imparted to the directed structure.

Abstract: A surgical cutting guide is described which can guide a cutting implement to cut in a pair of planes at a defined relative orientation. The cutting guide comprises a first plate defining a first cutting plane, a second plate defining a second cutting plane at an angle to the first cutting plane; and a base member to which both the first plate and the second plate are attached. The first and second cutting planes intersect each other at a line of intersection and both the first plate and the second plate extend beyond the line of intersection.

Abstract: A cannula for use in laparoscopic surgery has a central passage which may accept a trocar to create a laparoscopic incision in a body wall to an inner body cavity. A tubular section of the cannula is then pressed into the incision to form a port. After completion of the operation a needle having a blunt distal end with a suture-engaging notch surrounded by a sheath with a sharpened edge is pressed through inclined passages in the side walls of the cannula so as to extend into the body tissue on one side of the cannula and into the body cavity, carrying the suture which is then grasped by an instrument to remove the suture and join it to a needle projecting from the opposite side of the cannula. The needle is then withdrawn so the suture may be knotted on the outer side of the body wall.

Abstract: The apparatus and method is directed to a pair of self-tapping, interconnecting, externally and internally threaded devices that, when installed between two separate pieces of material, will draw and hold the material together as a single threaded unit. While the pair of threaded devices are being fastened into the host material, due to the unique design of their threads, no radial outward forces are produced that could cause cracking or splitting of the sections of the material into which they are installed. The external threads are helically defined into the exterior of each half of the device with a right hand thread defined into one half and a left hand thread into the other half. When the two halves are being fastened together, the increased thread pitch on one of the halves continuously draws the halves into each other even when the internal threads have already been maximally tightened.