Abstract: A knotless suture anchor system is disclosed for improved anchoring in tissue. The knotless suture anchor system includes an anchor body having an exterior surface, a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis extending between the proximal and distal ends, an interior longitudinal passageway extending at least partway from the proximal end toward the distal end, a proximal opening communicating with the longitudinal passageway nearer the proximal end, and a distal opening communicating with the longitudinal passageway nearer the distal end. The knotless suture anchor system also includes an interference member insertable distally into the longitudinal passageway to secure a portion of a suture within the longitudinal passageway by compressing the portion of the suture between the interference member and the anchor body, and a frangible connection that joins a proximal member to the anchor body.

Abstract: The disclosure provides apparatus and methods of use pertaining to syndesmosis reinforcement. Embodiments include a clamp having two jaws that extend toward each other to clamp two bone portions therebetween. The clamp may include an angle gauge and an adjustment mechanism having a force gauge that combine to enable the compression of the two bone portions in an optimal direction or angle and at an optimal, measurable compression force. Embodiments also include a tension instrument configured to knotlessly lock a flexible strand construct between two anchors at the same optimal direction and tension applied by the clamp. Further embodiments include an exemplary syndesmosis reinforcement procedure that employs the clamp and the tension instrument to construct a ligament reinforcement construct that achieves optimal anatomic positioning in both directional alignment and the reduction force applied by the construct. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: The disclosure provides devices and methods of use pertaining to extra joint stabilization. Embodiments include a number of suture returning and locking anchors that feature both a suture return element and a suture locking feature that employs an interference fit between a flexible synthetic strand, a receiver of the anchor, and a set screw, where the receiver and the set screw each have a number of gradual, opposing tapers to facilitate gradual proximal-to-distal gripping and releasing of the flexible strand to achieve an optimal locking force while preventing severing of the flexible strand. Embodiments also include a counter-torque anchor driver configured to resist torsional forces generated during and translated to the anchor during set-screw insertion. Further embodiments include extra joint reinforcement, stabilization, and attachment constructs formed using the disclosed devices. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: A method of preparing and/or delivering an osteochondral plug may include, positioning a tissue graft on a cutting guide, wherein the tissue graft may have been removed from a larger body of tissue to define a shaped surface. The tissue graft may include a top surface having a cartilage surface. The method may further include advancing a first cutter along a cutting direction toward the tissue graft to cut the tissue graft to form the osteochondral plug having an external wall parallel to the cutting direction and transverse to the top surface. Positioning the tissue graft on the cutting guide may include placing the shaped surface on a registration surface of the cutting guide. The registration surface may have a reference shape that corresponds to a shape of at least part of the shaped surface.

Abstract: Disclosed are devices and methods for improving healing of an enthesis. An effective amount of a composition comprising one or more sex steroids and/or sex steroid equivalents is locally administered at the site of a repaired enthesis. The composition causes upregulation of one or more chondrogenic, angiogenic, and/or tendon modulation genes, resulting in improved healing of the enthesis. The improved enthesis healing occurs even where the subject has normal levels of sex hormones.

Abstract: Examples of devices and methods for stabilizing a fracture in a bone include a body having an elongate distal portion having an outer surface defining a screw thread and an elongate proximal portion having a non-threaded outer surface.

Abstract: A dynamic compression implant may be insertable into a bone, and may have a distal member with distal bone-engaging threads, a proximal member that slidably engages the distal member, and a tension member with a proximal end coupled to the proximal member, and a distal end coupled to the distal member such that, in response to motion of the distal member distally away from the proximal member, the tension member elongates and urges the distal member to move proximally toward the proximal member. The bone screw may further have an interpositional member, formed separately from the proximal member and the distal member, that cooperates with the proximal member and the distal member to form a torque transmission feature that transmits torque between the proximal member and the distal member. The dynamic compression implant may be a bone screw, intramedullary implant, or other implant that applies compression across two bone portions.

Abstract: A bone implant system may include a plurality of bone anchors, a superior rod attachable to a superior portion of a bone via the bone anchors, and an inferior rod attachable to an inferior portion of the bone via the bone anchors. The superior rod may have a superior end, and the inferior rod may have an inferior end. The superior rod may telescopically engage the inferior rod such that a cavity is present within at least one of the superior rod and the inferior rod and such that a length of the combined superior and inferior rods, measured between the superior end and the inferior end, is adjustable. The cavity may contain a micropump and a chamber. The micropump may be configured to expel fluid into the chamber to urge the length to increase.

Abstract: A tether assembly may be attached to a bone to correct a rotational deformity. The bone may have a growth plate that separates a first section of the bone from a second section of the bone. The tether assembly may have a tether member with a first end, a second end, and a central portion extending between the first end and the second end. The first end may have a closed outer wall that defines and fully bounds a first aperture. The second end may have an open outer wall that defines and partially bounds a second aperture. The open outer wall may define a slot in communication with the second aperture. The first and second ends may be securable to the first and second sections of the bone via coupling members inserted through the first and second apertures and anchored in the first and second sections, respectively.

Abstract: A pedicle screw assembly including a bone fastener having a lower end for engaging bone and an upper end remote from the lower end; a head having a rod-receiving channel attached to the upper end of said bone fastener; a spinal rod insertable into the rod-receiving channel of said head, said spinal rod having an outer surface extending between first and second ends thereof, wherein at least one of the first and second ends has a reduced diameter section. A spinal rod having an outer surface extending between a first end and a second end thereof; wherein the outer surface of said spinal rod has a reduced diameter section at at least one of the first and second ends.

Abstract: A bone screw may be insertable into a bone. The bone screw may have a distal member with bone-engaging threads, a proximal member configured to slidably engage the distal member, and a tension member with a proximal end coupled to the proximal member, and a distal end coupled to the distal member such that, in response to motion of the distal member away from the proximal member, the tension member elongates and urges the distal member to move toward the proximal member.

Abstract: A bone implant system may include a plurality of bone anchors, a superior rod attachable to a superior portion of a bone via the bone anchors, and an inferior rod attachable to an inferior portion of the bone via the bone anchors. The superior rod may have a superior end, and the inferior rod may have an inferior end. The superior rod may telescopically engage the inferior rod such that a cavity is present within at least one of the superior rod and the inferior rod and such that a length of the combined superior and inferior rods, measured between the superior end and the inferior end, is adjustable. The cavity may contain a micropump and a chamber. The micropump may be configured to expel fluid into the chamber to urge the length to increase.

Abstract: Disclosed are devices and methods for improving healing of an enthesis. An effective amount of a composition comprising one or more sex steroids and/or sex steroid equivalents is locally administered at the site of a repaired enthesis. The composition causes upregulation of one or more chondrogenic, angiogenic, and/or tendon modulation genes, resulting in improved healing of the enthesis. The improved enthesis healing occurs even where the subject has normal levels of sex hormones.

Abstract: A bone screw may be insertable into a bone, and may have a proximal member, a distal member with bone-engaging threads, wherein the distal member is configured to slidably engage the proximal member such that a variable-length cavity is defined within the proximal member and the distal member, and a tension member residing at least partially within the variable-length cavity. The tension member may have a proximal end coupled to the proximal member and a distal end coupled to the distal member such that, in response to motion of the distal member away from the proximal member, the tension member elongates and urges the distal member to move toward the proximal member. The proximal member and the distal member may be interconnected to share bending loads at a bending transmission feature.

Abstract: The disclosure provides apparatus and methods of use pertaining to a multiple suture threader. Embodiments of the multiple suture threader include a handle that is coupled with a first collapsible loop and a second collapsible loop that is axially offset from the first collapsible loop. In use, one or more sutures are doubled over each of the first and the second collapsible loops such that when the axially spaced loops are passed through a narrow axial passage of a surgical implant, a surgical instrument, or a bodily passage such as a bone tunnel, a twenty-five to fifty percent reduction in suture traffic, or in the maximum number of suture thicknesses that simultaneously pass through the narrow passage, is achieved. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: A bone fixation assembly may include a male member removably couplable with a female member. The male member may include a male load-sharing feature having at least one male load-sharing surface. The female member may include a female load-sharing feature having at least one female load-sharing surface. The female load-sharing feature may be positioned and shaped to receive the male load-sharing feature therein. In response to a bending load acting on the bone fixation assembly, at least one of the male member and the female member may bend such that, at least a portion of the at least one male load-sharing surface engages with at least a portion of the at least one female load-sharing surface to distribute the bending load between the male member and the female member.

Abstract: A trephine may be used to form a tunnel through bone and/or cartilage. The trephine may have a trephine body with a generally tubular shape centered on a trephine body longitudinal axis, and a trephine body distal rim. The trephine may also have a drive shaft that receives torque and transmits the torque to the trephine body. The trephine body distal rim may lie substantially in a plane that is non-perpendicular to the trephine body longitudinal axis. The trephine may further have a cutting tooth extending distally from the trephine body distal rim. The cutting tooth may have a first distal tip and a second distal tip displaced circumferentially from the first distal tip. The trephine may be advanced while rotating to form the tunnel through bone and a first, adjacent cartilage surface of a joint, without breaching a second cartilage surface on the opposite side of the joint.

Abstract: A bone screw may be insertable into a bone. The bone screw may have a distal member with bone-engaging threads, a proximal member configured to slidably engage the distal member, and a tension member with a proximal end coupled to the proximal member, and a distal end coupled to the distal member such that, in response to motion of the distal member away from the proximal member, the tension member elongates and urges the distal member to move toward the proximal member.

Abstract: A bone screw may be insertable into a bone. The bone screw may have a distal member with bone-engaging threads, a proximal member configured to slidably engage the distal member, and a tension member with a proximal end coupled to the proximal member, and a distal end coupled to the distal member such that, in response to motion of the distal member away from the proximal member, the tension member elongates and urges the distal member to move toward the proximal member. The tension member may be configured such that, at a minimum length of the bone screw, the tension member is pre-stretched so that the tension member is under tension to urge the bone screw to shorten. The bone screw may be inserted in the pre-stretched state. A pre-stretch driver may be used to tension the bone screw prior to or during insertion.

Abstract: Methods and devices for performing an osteotomy on a bone are presented. In one example of the invention, a method of performing an osteotomy on a bone includes removing a portion of bone from a first side of the bone to create a gap on the first side of the bone; making a cut on a second side of the bone, opposite the first side; and rotating the bone from a first position to a second position to close the gap on the first side of the bone and open the cut on the second side of the bone to create a gap on the second side of the bone.