SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRE-GUIDED PEDICLE SCREW STABILIZATION OF SPINAL VERTEBRAE
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Abstract
An improved system and method for positioning screws and rods to immobilize bones is provided. Specifically, the system and method is optimal for performing transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) and other interbody fusions in the spine. The system involves pedicle screws detachably connected to wires that guide rods down to the screws. The wires are strong, narrow, flexible, adjustable in tension, and easily disconnected from the screws after rod placement via a process such as cutting, radiating, burning, dissolving, etc. The use of wires to place the rods avoids the conventional bulky tower apparatuses of the prior art while at the same time enhancing the accuracy of placement. One of the preferred methods involves relying upon the natural lordotic curvature of the spine and the narrow diameter of the wires to insert many elements through a single minimally invasive incision.
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Citations
80 Claims
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1-53. -53. (canceled)
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54. A method of treating the spine, comprising:
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making an incision in the skin of a patient to provide access to a spinal location; delivering a first screw through the incision and into a first vertebra; delivering a second screw through the same incision and into a second vertebra; delivering a spinal fixation element through the incision into contact with the first and second screws, wherein the spinal fixation element is guided to the first and second screw by at least a first elongate guiding element extending away from the first screw and at least a second elongate guiding element extending away from the second screw, the first and second elongate guiding elements extending through the incision and overlapping with one another, wherein the first and second elongate guiding elements are capable of guiding the spinal fixation element towards the first and second screws at any orientation permitted geometrically by the guiding elements including an angle not parallel to a long axis of either of the guiding elements; and locking the spinal fixation element to each of the screws. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. A method of treating the spine, comprising:
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providing an opening in the skin of a patient to provide access to a spinal location; delivering a first screw through the opening and into a first vertebra, the first screw having a wire directly or indirectly attached to the first screw extending upwardly therefrom through the opening; delivering a second screw through the opening and into a second vertebra, the second screw having a rigid tower detachably connected to the second screw extending upwardly from the second screw; and delivering a spinal fixation element through the opening into contact with the first and second screws, wherein the spinal fixation element is guided to the first and second screw by at least one or both of the wire and the rigid tower. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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Specification