Abstract: An abrading device consists of an advanced burr and appliqué for a burr and a new process for making cutting tools for fine material removal applications such as in bone and tissue surgeries. An appliqué sheet is first engineered by CAD with an abrading surface having cutting facets. The appliqué is attached to a surface of a tool blank and then metallurgically bonded and coated by the BRAZOL® or Co—P process. The tool blank has a proximal shank attachable to a driver and a distal surface to which the appliqué is affixed. Since each facet is attached to surrounding facets and then strongly bonded to the tool, the facets do not dislodge when used to abrade a surface of an object. The BRAZOL® or Co—P coating imparts excellent wear resistance and lubricity to the cutting facets. This results in excellent operational and material removal characteristics. This approach to making surgical and fine industrial tools offers engineered flexibility in design rather than process dependent designs.

Abstract: A surgical blade includes a handle with a recess sized to receive the proximal end of a blade assembly. The recess includes a notch as well as opposed facing distal ridges designed to engage elevated surfaces in the blade assembly to maintain the blade assembly and handle assembled. The blade assembly includes a blade portion and a fitting having a protrusion sized to be received in the proximal notch of the recess in the handle when the blade portion is assembled to the handle. The fitting also includes side faces having opposed elevated surfaces obliquely disposed so that they are engaged by the distal ridges within the handle recess. The fitting also includes an upwardly extending catch that engages a distal surface on the handle to assist in locking the blade assembly to the handle. The recess of the handle includes inner tapered surfaces.

Abstract: An intramedullary femoral broach aligns two instruments. A femoral neck resector guide slides over the broach and centers on the patient's femoral head to determine the height and angular rotation of resection. A circular ring of the head and cutting arms assure the system will fit any femur. A template is applied to the femoral broach and seats itself against the buttress of the broach locking it into place. The broach is then reinserted into the intramedullary canal. When the template reaches the greater trochanter the sizer is adjusted to the rotational anteversion of the canal. The handle of the femoral broach is struck with a mallet until the template is imbedded into the proximal femoral neck intramedullary bone. A retractor facilitates reaming of the acetabulum through a small anterior incision. A proximal portion digs into the bone of the superior acetabulum to allow for retraction of soft tissues.

Abstract: A minimally invasive surgical procedure for total hip surgery features four unique instruments that facilitate the procedure. A manual Intramedullary Femoral Broach facilitates axial alignment of the subsequent two instruments that attach to it for alignment and stability. The Femoral Neck Resector Guide slides over the proximal portion of the Broach and self centers on the patient's femoral head to determine the height and angular rotation of resection of the femoral neck. The circular ring of the head locator and the cutting arms assure that the system will fit any size femur. The Sizer/Cutter Template is applied to the Femoral Broach from the tip with the tip removed from the intermedullary canal and seats itself firmly against the Femoral Broach raised buttress locking it into place. The Femoral Broach is then is reinserted into the intramedullary canal. When the Sizer/Cutter Template reaches the greater trochanter the Sizer is adjusted to the rotational anteversion of the canal.

Abstract: A scalpel having a blade with a fitting molded about or assembled to its proximal end with the fitting having a proximally facing opening sized to receive an end of a distal portion of a detachable handle. The handle includes a proximal portion designed to be gripped by the surgeon and a distal portion including a male coupling half designed to be received within the proximal opening of the fitting, which proximal opening is configured as a female coupling half. The proximal and distal portions of the handle are angled with respect to one another defining an angle from about 0°-10°. The male coupling half may be inserted within the female coupling half in either one of two diametrically opposed orientations. Thus, due to the angulation between the proximal portion of the handle and the distal portion of the handle, the proximal portion of the handle is either angled downwardly or upwardly with respect to the axis of the blade itself.

Abstract: A bur-abrading tool for use with a rotating or oscillating drive unit. The unit includes a base abrader bit unit comprising a bit rod and bit substrate shape having a surface of revolution. A very large number of particles, comprised of a plurality of shapes having sharp edges, are brazed to the substrate shape utilizing a brazing material which binds the particles to the substrate shape creating burs. The brazing material at least partially coats the particles. In preferred embodiments the particles are comprised of small cut pieces of wire. Tools having various surfaces of revolution and various cut wire shapes are described.

Abstract: A knee holder includes a base plate having two parallel rows of slots designed to hold the ends of a cylinder to which is attached a foot cradle. Each slot has the appearance of an inverted symmetric "T" allowing reversability of the orientation of the foot cradle. The base plate has an "L"-shaped arm extending along its upper surface and then having a right angle bend to extend downwardly. The arm is sized to be received within an opening of a clamping bracket attached to a rail of a surgical table or other horizontal support surface on which the base plate has been placed, with the clamping bracket including structure allowing locking of the arm in fixed position to fix the position of the knee holder. The base plate is sized to allow two knee holders to be mounted on a surgical table side by side to facilitate performance of a bilateral procedure.

Abstract: An abrader blade with integral depth control wings. The depth control wings which slide on a portion of the material being abraded to limit the depth of abrasion. The cutting surface of the abrasive surgical device is covered with abrading material. In a preferred embodiment tungsten carbide particles are brazed onto the blade substrate with an equal quantity of cobalt phosphorous braizing alloy. In this preferred embodiment an additional coating is added with a braze alloy specially developed for medical cutting. The carbide particles, the cobalt, the phosphorous and metal phosphides formed during the brazing process are all biocompatable. These blades are especially desirable for abrading bone material into particular shapes for interfacing with prosthesis parts. Several specific blades are disclosed.

Abstract: A fixation pin has a cylindrical body having a proximal end with two axially separated heads with an annular groove between them. The distal end of the cylindrical body has a tapered conical point. In the preferred embodiment, the cylindrical body has a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending grooves which extend from just proximal of the pointed end of the fixation pin, proximally toward the proximal end. Each groove extends into the cylindrical body to an extent not exceeding 30% of the diameter of a cross-section of the cylindrical body and each groove has an outwardly facing opening which subtends in the range of about 7% to about 17% of the circumference of the cylindrical body. The grooves receive bone material when the pin is driven into a bone and prevent rotation of the pin while preventing the pin from backing out of the bone.

Abstract: A surgical alignment system employs a laser beam generating device and a lens system to convert the beam into a plane of light which is aligned along a desired axis of the human body to provide proper alignment to the surgeon to enhance the accuracy of orthopedic surgery such as total knee, hip or back surgery. The laser beam generating device is mounted on a bracket which is fixed to a cassette holder positioned beneath the patient and having a chamber designed to removably receive an x-ray film cassette. The cassette holder is made of a material which is transparent to x-rays. Straps incorporated into the cassette holder are designed to fix the patient to the cassette holder during surgery. The cassette holder includes a radio-opaque indicator with the bracket holding the laser beam generating device having a second radio-opaque indicator so that when an x-ray is taken of the patient affixed to the inventive device, compensation for parallax may be carried out.

Abstract: Embodiments of an acetabular cup inserter include an elongated stem to which a handle is assembled in such a way that its orientation with respect to the stem may be adjusted 360.degree., that is, completely about the periphery of the stem. A buttress device is provided to engage the metal cup resiliently by use of an O-ring which prevents metal-to-metal contact avoiding fretting of the cup surface. The various embodiments disclosed include one embodiment wherein the buttress is axially aligned with the majority of the stem length as well as an embodiment wherein the axis of the buttress is parallel to and offset from the axis of the majority of the stem.

Abstract: A distal femoral resector guide includes a generally T-shaped body with a saw guide at the distal end and a proximal stem structure. A rod extends from the saw guide and is intended to engage the intercondylar notch. The stem structure may be adjusted in length and includes a proximal end which may be shifted anteriorly and posteriorly with respect to the rest of the stem structure to accommodate distal femurs of differing configurations. A site line may be formed on the top surface of the stem structure and saw guide which includes an elongated groove filled with a material such as oxides of titanium which will glow under the presence of strong light. The inventive guide may be used in conjunction with a laser alignment mechanism to improve the accuracy of resection.

Abstract: An oscillating surgical blade formed such that the thickness of the blade adjacent the side edges is reduced relative to the effective thickness of the body of the blade. Therefore, when the side edges of the blade mushroom due to contact with a saw guide slot, the resultant thickness of the mushroomed edges is less than or equal to the effective thickness of the blade body.

Abstract: A tibial resector guide having an angularly adjustable head controlled by a thumb actuated slide mechanism. The head may be positioned in a plurality of predetermined angular orientations in the anterior-posterior plane. The cutting head guide includes angled side walls which permit the guide to have a narrow aperture yet allow the saw blade to completely pass through the tibia. Further, the tibial resector of this invention includes a telescoping rod and a length adjustment mechanism adjacent the head for providing small height adjustments for positioning the head. The length adjustment member includes an enlarged thumb wheel to ease operation. A pinning platform is connected to the adjustment member such that it is shiftable with the adjustment member relative to the guide head. The pinning platform permits the surgeon to pin the upper end of the instrument to the patient's leg preventing movement of the instrument during resection.

Abstract: A tibial resector guide having an angularly adjustable head controlled by a thumb actuated slide mechanism. The head may be positioned in a plurality of predetermined angular orientations in the anterior-posterior plane. The cutting head guide includes angled side walls which permit the guide to have a narrow aperture yet allow the saw blade to completely pass through the tibia. Further, the tibial resector of this invention includes a telescoping rod and a length adjustment mechanism adjacent the head for providing small height adjustments for positioning the head. The length adjustment member includes an enlarged thumb wheel to ease operation. A pinning platform is connected to the adjustment member such that it is shiftable with the adjustment member relative to the guide head. The pinning platform permits the surgeon to pin the upper end of the instrument to the patient's leg preventing movement of the instrument during resection.

Abstract: An extramedullary proximal tibial guide includes a distal end carrying a vertically adjustable ankle bracket as well as an ankle pointer, and a proximal end carrying a saw guide. The saw guide includes a saw guiding slot which is so configured as to have an open area between the bottom of a slot rail and portions of the top of the bone which is to be resected so that the surgeon may precisely view the location of engagement of the surgical saw with the bone structure. The surface area of engagement between the saw guide and the bone is made quite small with a sharp bone contacting edge to facilitate micro adjustment. Laterally of the saw guiding slot, side flares are provided which are designed to protect the patellar tendon and soft tissues during resection. The ankle bracket is held in place about the ankle of the patient through the use of a fastener including a ball chain and a spring.

Abstract: The acetabular cup positioner of this invention provides a resilient collar to be carried on its distal end for contacting the interior surface of the acetabular cup. The resilient collar prevents damage to the interior of the cup during impaction. Since the resilient collar will compress a small amount during the impaction, the threaded connector of the positioner and the threads for the acetabular cup will be under a sizable load. Therefore, to protect the positioner and the cup, the threaded connector is shiftably connected to the positioner body. The connector is biased toward the distal end by a helical spring.

Abstract: An intramedullary universal proximal tibial resector guide is disclosed which combines several unique features together to provide an extremely versatile instrument. The inventive guide includes structure allowing anterior-posterior adjustment, medial-lateral adjustment, posterior slope adjustment and vertical adjustment. The design of the precision slot of the present invention best facilitates resection of the proximal tibia beneath the patellar fat pad. The vertical adjustment utilizes a micrometer-type actuator to allow precise adjustment of the appropriate cutting depth. Deep grooves on the intramedullary rod facilitate decompression of the intramedullary fat. The resector cutting head may be removed from the rest of the instrument in an easy one-step procedure leaving the resector cutting head in place ready to receive a surgical resection cutting blade.