Apparatus and method for exerting and maintaining a force between two bone members
First Claim
1. Bone staple apparatus for exerting and maintaining a force between two bone members, comprising:
- a body having opposite axially aligned ends threaded axially in opposite directions to one another, a substantially flat peripheral striking surface, and a relatively sharp outward protrusion disposed laterally across said body from said striking surface; and
a pair of angled arms each having a threaded end portion in axial threaded engagement with a respective one of said axial ends of said body and a free end portion extending substantially perpendicular to the axis of said body for implantation into a bone member.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A bone staple includes a body and a pair of angled arms oppositely threaded into opposite ends of the body. The body has at least one generally flat periphery striking surface and a corresponding relatively sharp outward protrusion at an opposite side of the body from the striking surface. According to the disclosed method, the bone staple is implanted by driving the staple partly into two bone members and then rotating the body to threadably adjust the positions of the arms and thereby exert a force between the bone members. The staple is next driven further by striking the striking surface until the protrusion embeds beneath a bone surface to prevent rotation of the body. A driver tool useful for implanting the staple has a clamping head which receives the staple body and rigidly clamps the angled arms.
335 Citations
16 Claims
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1. Bone staple apparatus for exerting and maintaining a force between two bone members, comprising:
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a body having opposite axially aligned ends threaded axially in opposite directions to one another, a substantially flat peripheral striking surface, and a relatively sharp outward protrusion disposed laterally across said body from said striking surface; and a pair of angled arms each having a threaded end portion in axial threaded engagement with a respective one of said axial ends of said body and a free end portion extending substantially perpendicular to the axis of said body for implantation into a bone member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of exerting and maintaining a force between two bone members, comprising
providing a bone staple including a body having laterally outward protrusion means and axially aligned opposite ends, said ends being threaded axially in opposite directions to one another, and a pair of angled arms each having a threaded end portion in axial threaded engagement with a respective one of said ends of said body and a free end portion extending substantially perpendicular to the axis of said body, partially inserting the free end portions of said arms into said two bone members, respectively, rotating said body to threadably adjust the relative positions of said arms axially of said ends of said body, and further inserting said free end portions within said bone members and embedding said protrusion means beneath a bone surface to prevent further rotation of said body.
Specification