Abstract: In one embodiment, a torque-indicating driver includes a handle configured to receive applied torque. One or more flat springs are coupled via a housing to the handle at their proximate ends. The one or more flat springs are configured to angularly deflect elastically in response to the applied torque. A hub is coupled to a distal end of the one or more flat springs, the hub having a torsion rod extending therefrom. The torsion rod is configured to apply torque to a load. An outer sleeve at least partially covers the housing. One or more plungers are affixed to the housing and configured to engage one or more holes or depressions disposed at predetermined locations in the outer sleeve. Engagement with the holes or depressions creates auditory and tactile feedback perceivable by a user of the torque-indicating driver to indicate when a particular torque level is reached.

Abstract: A spreader insert for use with a surgical retractor is provided. The spreader insert includes a circular head with two or more downwardly extending blades. One end of each blade of the insert is rotatably fastened to the head of the insert, such that each blade can be tilted inwardly or extended outwardly from a central axis of the device. Suitable fasteners are provided to rotate the blades from a closed position in which the distal ends of the blades are almost touching each other in order to improve ease of introduction into the surgical field. In an open position, the blades rotate outwardly to hold body tissue in place. Alternatively, the entire spreader insert is machined from a hardenable steel tube, the blades of which are formed so that, when released, they spring outwardly to an open position.

Abstract: The invention is a curette that includes a tip and shaft that detachably join together to form a working tool member. The shaft has a threaded receiving end that is sized to receive a mating end of the tip. The mating, or proximal, end of the tip includes a corresponding threaded section and a smaller-diameter outwardly extending elongated section that is flattened on one or more sides. To attach the tip to the shaft, a user partially fills the receiving end of the shaft with epoxy. The user then inserts the mating end of the tip into the receiving end of the shaft, such that the epoxy surrounds the elongated section of the mating end and fills or partially fills the threads. The user then screws the tip and shaft together, to interlock, or self-lock, the threads. When the epoxy thereafter hardens, the tip is firmly held against rotation relative to the shaft both by the epoxied and interlocked threads and the flattened-sided section that, because of its shape, resists rotation within the hardened epoxy.

Abstract: An instrument for bone distraction and compression is provided which has been fitted with ratcheting tips that are rotatably mounted at the working end of a bone distractor. The ratcheting tips are mounted such that they are adjustable to customize the instrument for a particular surgical procedure. The tips may be used to push implants along the rod. The tips can include U-shaped ends that slide around the rod hooks or other components to urge the two to desired positions. It is preferred that the members of the handle are coupled such that when opened, the working ends of the instrument remain parallel to one another.

Abstract: An instrument for bone distraction and compression is provided which has been fitted with ratcheting tips that are rotatably mounted at the working end of a bone distractor. The ratcheting tips are mounted such that they are adjustable to customize the instrument for a particular surgical procedure. The tips may be used to push implants along the rod. The tips can include U-shaped ends that slide around the rod hooks or other components to urge the two to desired positions. It is preferred that the members of the handle are coupled such that when opened, the working ends of the instrument remain parallel to one another.

Abstract: The invention is a curette that includes a tip and shaft that detachably join together to form a working tool member. The shaft has a threaded receiving end that is sized to receive a mating end of the tip. The mating, or proximal, end of the tip includes a corresponding threaded section and a smaller-diameter outwardly extending elongated section that is flattened on one or more sides. To attach the tip to the shaft, a user partially fills the receiving end of the shaft with epoxy. The user then inserts the mating end of the tip into the receiving end of the shaft, such that the epoxy surrounds the elongated section of the mating end and fills or partially fills the threads. The user then screws the tip and shaft together, to interlock, or self-lock, the threads. When the epoxy thereafter hardens, the tip is firmly held against rotation relative to the shaft both by the epoxied and interlocked threads and the flattened-sided section that, because of its shape, resists rotation within the hardened epoxy.

Abstract: A rod bending system includes a handle that holds a template rod and an implant rod in close proximity and in a fixed orientation with respect to one another. The system further includes one or more of the following: (a) a rod bender for bending the implant rod, the rod bender including a central pivot that is dimensioned and contoured to fit between the two rods; (b) a guide that slideably attaches to the template rod and clips onto the implant rod, the guide sliding along regions of the rods that correspond and stopping at regions that diverge; and (c) a stand that includes a holder which retains the handle at a desired orientation and a pedestal that elevates the handle above a supporting surface.

Abstract: A screw removal system is provided that can be used to remove a broken screw piece, which is embedded in a bone. The screw removal system includes an internally-threaded outer tube and a T-handled shaft which screws into the tube. The outer tube includes at one end two flange legs that engage the second or third thread of the broken screw piece and a bonding component sized to engage the broken screw piece. With the outer tube held in a stationary position by a wrench, the T-handled shaft is rotated downwardly to force the flange legs, and the bonding component into a locking engagement with the broken screw piece. After this locking engagement is achieved, the outer tube wrench is held so that it can rotate with the T-handled shaft and the broken screw piece can be unscrewed out of the bone upon continued rotation of the T-handled shaft, which causes the rotation of both the outer tube and the engaged screw piece.

Abstract: A rod cutting instrument having a depth gauge and/or a anti-twisting strap is provided. The depth gauge is secured to the strap of a set of surgical cutting jaws. The gauge has a U-shaped guide at one end thereof which extends into the cutting area defined by the cutting blades of the jaws. The guide is sized to encompass a surgically-implanted rod which is to be severed. The depth gauge is dimensioned so that when it is placed against the rod, it provides sufficient blade depth such that the blades can cut the rod all the way through. The depth gauge may include two guide sizes or depths, one on either end of the guide, which can be selected depending upon the size of rod to be cut and removed, or for cutting rods outside of the body. The anti-twisting strap is attached to an opposite side of the rod cutter.

Abstract: A medical instrument fixation system for a sterilization tray having a bottom wall and an array of ventilation holes in the bottom wall, the holes being arranged in columns and rows with a selected spacing between the columns and rows includes a plurality of elongated rails. Each rail has a bottom surface, a top surface and a plurality of projections extending from the bottom surface and spaced apart along each rail a distance equal to, or an intregal multiple of, the selected spacing, the projections being sized to plug into the holes so that the rail extends along a column or row of holes. The system also includes a plurality of posts, each post having opposite ends and means for keying one end of each post to a different one of the rails so that so that each post can slide along the corresponding rail to a selected position thereon. A method of fixating the instruments in the tray using special retention devices is also disclosed.

Abstract: The suturing instrument of the present invention uses an electromagnet to position, orient and hold a needle at the end of an elongated barrel, thereby eliminating the mechanical jaws which are otherwise required. The electromagnet is contained in a barrel and extends along the length of the barrel. One end of the electromagnet emerges at the distal end of the barrel and extends to an end cap, which includes a groove for orienting the needle. Wires extending from the electromagnet and through the barrel connect to a power source which supplies current to the wires. The power source preferably has multiple power settings for supplying different levels of current. When sufficient current is applied to the electromagnet, the electromagnet attracts the needle to it, causing the needle to move to a predetermined position within the groove.

Abstract: A suturing instrument for use in endoscopic surgery includes at one end of an elongated barrel a pair of jaws to grasp and release a needle. Within one of the jaws a recessed magnet properly positions, orients and holds the needle relative to the long axis of the barrel. In a preferred embodiment of an instrument with the magnet embedded in a lower jaw, the instrument includes a wire, which moves in parallel with an upper jaw as that jaw opens and closes, to push the needle out of the contact with the magnet in the lower jaw. The wire fits within a recess, and lies beneath the needle when the needle is in position and the jaws are closed. An alternative embodiment of the instrument includes in one of the jaws a magnet which is magnetized across the diameter. This magnet is oriented, relative to a long axis of the elongated barrel, such that the poles are perpendicular to the axis.