Ligament attachment method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A surgical system for implanting a human knee joint ligament, particularly a cruciate ligament comprising, under fluoroscopic control and with the patient'"'"'s leg bent and maintained appropriately, at a single incision to the tibial tuberosity, urging a guidewire through the bone surface and passing through the cruciate ligament junctions to the proximal tibia and distal femur, the guidewire further urged into the femur cortex, which guidewire is to receive and guide therealong successively larger drills to form a ligament tunnel of a diameter to accommodate a selected allograft or prosthetic ligament, and the end of which ligament tunnel within said femur cortex is further prepared to receive a ligament femur attachment connector fitted and secured therein;
- an allograft or prosthetic ligament for implant in said ligament tunnel that includes on one end the femoral attachment connector and is arranged for insertion into said ligament tunnel, the femoral attachment connector arranged for perm anent installation in said femur cortex at said ligament tunnel end; and
securing a tibial attachment end of said ligament at the open tibia end of said ligament tunnel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a system for surgically implanting an allograft or prosthetic ligament as a replacement for a patient'"'"'s cruciate ligaments. In a practice of the system, as a replacement for an anterior cruciate ligament, the patient'"'"'s leg is bent and maintained at approximately a ninety degree (90°) angle, a single incision is made medial to the tibial tuberosity. From this incision, under fluoroscopic and arthroscopic contol, a guidewire is driven through the tibia and across the cruciate ligament junctions with the proximal tibia and distal femur ends and into the femur cortex. Succesively larger drills are then turned along the guidewire to form a ligament tunnel, with, as a last step in the tunnel formation process, the preparation of the femur cortex end of the tunnel to receive a femoral connector of the implanted ligament, which connector is arranged in one embodiment to be outwardly flared and in another embodiment to be turned into the appropriately prepared femur end of the ligament tunnel to lock therein. The invention, in addition to the embodiments of the ligament femur end connectors, further includes a tibial surface ligament tibial end connector for both securing the ligament end to the bone and for setting ligament tensioning, of which ligament connectors can be manufactured from a biodegradable material for absorption by the body.
531 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A surgical system for implanting a human knee joint ligament, particularly a cruciate ligament comprising, under fluoroscopic control and with the patient'"'"'s leg bent and maintained appropriately, at a single incision to the tibial tuberosity, urging a guidewire through the bone surface and passing through the cruciate ligament junctions to the proximal tibia and distal femur, the guidewire further urged into the femur cortex, which guidewire is to receive and guide therealong successively larger drills to form a ligament tunnel of a diameter to accommodate a selected allograft or prosthetic ligament, and the end of which ligament tunnel within said femur cortex is further prepared to receive a ligament femur attachment connector fitted and secured therein;
- an allograft or prosthetic ligament for implant in said ligament tunnel that includes on one end the femoral attachment connector and is arranged for insertion into said ligament tunnel, the femoral attachment connector arranged for perm anent installation in said femur cortex at said ligament tunnel end; and
securing a tibial attachment end of said ligament at the open tibia end of said ligament tunnel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24)
- an allograft or prosthetic ligament for implant in said ligament tunnel that includes on one end the femoral attachment connector and is arranged for insertion into said ligament tunnel, the femoral attachment connector arranged for perm anent installation in said femur cortex at said ligament tunnel end; and
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16. A surgical system for a prosthetic ligament implant as a replacement for a knee ligament, particularly a cruciate ligament, the ligament for installation in a ligament tunnel formed to have a closed end in either the femoral or tibial cortex, said ligament tunnel extending across the knee joint and is open at the distal bone surface from the ligament tunnel closed end, which ligament tunnel closed end is prepared to receive and connect in binding engagement to an end of said prosthetic ligament comprising, a femoral attachment connector end means secured to one end of said prosthetic ligament to be permanently secured in said prepared ligament tunnel cortex end;
- and a tibial attachment connector means that is secured to said prosthetic ligament other end for maintaining and adjusting the prosthetic ligament tensioning at the ligament tunnel entrance which tibial attachment connector means consists of a flattened cone shaped disked that has a lesser diameter end wherefrom the cone shaped disk outer surface slopes uniformly outwardly to a greater diameter end, which lesser diameter end is for alignment with and installation in the open end of said ligament tunnel, the cone shaped disk having a center opening therethrough that is tapped to be turned over a threaded end of said prosthetic ligament, turning of which cone shaped disk on said prosthetic ligament threaded end to move said lesser diameter cone shaped disk end into engagement with the bone around said ligament tunnel open end.
- View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A surgical system for installing an allograft ligament implant as a replacement for a knee ligament, particularly a cruciate ligament, the ligament for installation in a straight ligament tunnel formed to have a closed end in either the femoral or tibial cortex, which ligament tunnel extends across the knee joint and is open at the distal bone surface from the ligament tunnel closed end, the ligament tunnel closed end to be tapped to form threads in the surrounding bone comprising, as an allograft ligament connector, a cylinder that has threads formed over its length around its outer circumference, which threads are for turning into the threads formed in the threaded closed end of the ligament tunnel, which cylinder is holed longitudinally from end to end at radial spaced apart intervals to accommodate a suture that is threaded therethrough and through spaced points at the end of the allograft ligament, said cylinder further including a center longitudinal sided driver hole formed in one end thereof;
- sided tool means appropriate for removable fitting into said center longitudinal sided driver hole for turning said cylinder into said ligament tunnel threaded said tool means opposite end to extend from the open end of said ligament tunnel; and
the unattached allograft ligament end is bent into engagement with the bone at said ligament tunnel open end to receive connector means for securing said ligament end to said bone surface. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
- sided tool means appropriate for removable fitting into said center longitudinal sided driver hole for turning said cylinder into said ligament tunnel threaded said tool means opposite end to extend from the open end of said ligament tunnel; and
Specification