Bone anchors for use in attaching soft tissue to a bone

• US 20050283158A1
• Filed: 06/22/2004
• Published: 12/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HS West Investments, LLC
• Original Assignee: HS West Investments, LLC
• Inventors: West, Hugh S. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,322,978 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/232
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0401 Suture anchors, buttons or pledgets, i.e. means for attaching sutures to bone, cartilage or soft tissue; Instruments for applying or removing suture anchors A61B17/0642 takes precedence; fixation devices for tendons or ligaments A61F2/0811
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/863 with thread interrupted or changing its form along shank, other than constant taper
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0414 having a suture-receiving opening, e.g. lateral opening
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/044 with a threaded shaft, e.g. screws

Abstract

Improved bone anchors are disclosed for anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone. The bone anchor has an anchor body that extends between a distal and a proximal end. A bore is formed axially in the anchor body and opens at the proximal end. One or more pins are fixed within the bore of the anchor body. One or more sutures can be looped on the pins for anchoring soft tissue to bone. The anchor body has a socket within the bore for receiving a driver tool. The distal end of the anchor body forms a non-threaded extension, which stabilizes the bone anchor, and helps prevent lateral movement during use. In one embodiment, the anchor body has coarse threads for engaging soft bone tissue and fine threads for engaging hard bone tissue.

Claims

1. A bone anchor for use in anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone of a living organism, comprising

an anchor body extending between a proximal end and a distal end, said anchor body having an interior bore that opens at said proximal end;

and

a first pin disposed within said bore and fixed to said anchor body, thereby providing an interior attachment location for attaching a suture.

2. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein a second pin transverse to the first pin is disposed within said bore and fixed to said anchor body, thereby providing an interior attachment location for attaching a second suture, said second pin being disposed substantially non-parallel relative to said first pin.

3. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein said anchor body comprises a radiotransparent material and said first pin comprises a radioopaque material.

4. A bone anchor as in claim 3, wherein said first transverse pin comprises titanium or stainless steel.

5. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein said anchor body comprises a bioabsorbable material.

6. A bone anchor as in claim 5, wherein said bioabsorbable material comprises PLLA.

7. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein said bore further defines a socket at said proximal end for receiving a driver and wherein said first pin is attached to said anchor body distal to said socket.

8. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein said anchor body has a threaded portion and a non-threaded portion, said non-threaded portion extending from said threaded portion to said distal end.

9. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein said non-threaded portion has a length of at least about 20% of the length of said threaded portion.

10. A bone anchor as in claim 1, wherein said non-threaded portion has a length of at least about 100% of said threaded portion.

11. A bone screw for use in anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone of a living organism, comprising

an anchor body extending between a proximal end and a distal end, said anchor body having an interior bore that opens at said proximal end;

threads extending circumferentially about said anchor body and terminating at one end substantially at said proximal end; and

a plurality of transverse pins disposed within said bore and fixed to said anchor body to provide interior attachment locations for attaching sutures, each of said plurality of transverse pins being disposed substantially non-parallel to relative to each other.

12. A bone screw as in claim 11, further comprising a plurality of sutures looped on said plurality of transverse pins.

13. A bone screw as in claim 12, wherein each suture is looped on a transverse pin in a separate location such that the plurality of pins prevents suture capture.

14. A bone screw as in claim 11, wherein said anchor body comprises a radiotransparent material and at least one of said transverse pins comprises a radioopaque material.

15. A bone screw as in claim 14, wherein said anchor body is bioabsorbable.

16. A bone anchor as in claim 11, wherein said plurality of pins are first and second transverse pins that are disposed within the anchor body at substantially right angles to each other.

17. A bone anchor for use in anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone having hard bone tissue and soft bone tissue, the bone anchor comprising:

an anchor body extending between a proximal end and a distal end, said anchor body further comprising;

a proximal threaded section;

a distal threaded section; and

wherein said proximal threaded section includes threads that are finer than threads of said distal threaded section such that said proximal threaded section is configured to engage hard bone tissue and said distal threaded section is configured to engage soft bone tissue.

18. A bone anchor as in claim 17, wherein said proximal threaded section has a root diameter that is substantially larger than the root diameter of said distal threaded section.

19. A bone anchor as in claim 17, wherein said proximal threaded section extends circumferentially to said proximal end.

20. A bone anchor as in claim 17, wherein said proximal end is configured to be substantially flush with and substantially non-protruding from a bone surface during use.

21. A bone anchor as in claim 17, further comprising an axial bore that opens at said proximal end and at least one pin disposed with said axial bore.

22. A bone anchor as in claim 17, wherein the finer threads comprise a double flute.

24. A bone anchor as in claim 22, wherein the rigid attachment means comprises a pin.

25. A bone anchor as in claim 22, wherein the rigid attachment means comprises a plurality of pins.

23. A bone anchor for use in anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone of a living organism, comprising

an anchor body extending between a proximal end and a distal end, said anchor body having an interior bore that opens at said proximal end;

and

rigid attachment means disposed within said bore for slidably attaching a suture.