Patents by Inventor Ann Hover

Ann Hover has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6709436
    Abstract: An intramedullary nail structure is formed with opposing dynamization windows, and spacers of a bioresorable material are positioned within the dynamization windows. The dynamization windows are longer than they are wide. The spacers may be integrally formed as a single insert. Tale nail is used with a bone fastener such as a bone screw which is advanced transversely through the bone and into the spacer, preferably in a bicortical attachment with the bone. The bone fastener is smaller across than the dynamization windows, so each spacer spaces the bone fastener relative to its dynamization window. As the spacers resorb, stress (at least in one direction) is increasingly transmitted through the fracture site rather than through the intramedullary nail. The positioning of the bone fastener, the shape and size of the dynamization windows and spacers, and the material of the spacers all allow design control over the type and amount of dynamization seen at the fracture site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Assignee: Depuy Orthopaedics, Inc.
    Inventors: Ann Hover, Roy Sanders, Donald Martin Sturgeon, Jerry Lower, Neil Cowley, David Overaker, Charles Hoppe, Tom Poandl