Surgical saw and methods therefor
First Claim
1. A surgical saw comprisinga pair of flexible, endless cutting bands having cutting edges for resecting anatomical tissue;
- an elongate guide arm for each cutting band, said guide arms being disposed parallel to and coplanar with one another for guiding said cutting bands for movement in defined paths;
a housing for mounting said guide arms in parallel, coplanar relationship; and
a drive system for driving said cutting bands to move around said guide arms, respectively, in said defined paths to resect the anatomical tissue.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical saw includes a saw assembly for being driven by a powered surgical handpiece and having a pair of parallel, co-planar guide arms, a pair of flexible, endless cutting bands disposed around the guide arms, respectively, and a drive mechanism for driving the cutting bands around the guide arms in a cutting direction. The cutting bands each include a plurality of spaced cutting teeth connected to one another by flexible band segments. The cutting bands are driven by the drive mechanism relative to the guide arms in opposite directions along defined paths to cut anatomical tissue at distal ends of the guide arms. A method of resecting bone includes the steps of driving the cutting bands relative to the guide arms in the cutting direction along the defined paths and inserting the distal ends of the guide arms in the bone to resect the bone along the plane of the guide arms.
257 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A surgical saw comprising
a pair of flexible, endless cutting bands having cutting edges for resecting anatomical tissue; -
an elongate guide arm for each cutting band, said guide arms being disposed parallel to and coplanar with one another for guiding said cutting bands for movement in defined paths; a housing for mounting said guide arms in parallel, coplanar relationship; and a drive system for driving said cutting bands to move around said guide arms, respectively, in said defined paths to resect the anatomical tissue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A surgical saw comprising
a flexible, endless cutting band constructed as one piece and including a plurality of spaced cutting teeth for resecting anatomical tissue and connected to one another by band segments; -
a stationary guide arm for guiding said cutting band for movement therealong in a cutting direction to resect anatomical tissue; a drive mechanism for driving said cutting band to move relative to said guide arm in said cutting direction; a housing for mounting said guide arm and said drive mechanism; and a handpiece for being coupled with said housing to supply power to said drive mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A surgical cutting blade for cutting bone comprising
a flexible, endless cutting band including a plurality of cutting teeth spaced from one another by band segments, each of said cutting teeth having a leading surface extending from a band segment at an acute angle and a trailing surface extending from another band segment to meet said leading surface at a cutting edge, said cutting edges of said teeth protruding laterally beyond a lateral plane of said band segments with said cutting edges of adjacent teeth protruding laterally in opposite directions.
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21. A method of resecting bone comprising the steps of
providing a surgical saw having a pair of flexible, endless cutting bands for cutting bone, a pair of guide arms coplanar and parallel with one another for guiding the cutting bands, respectively, for movement in a cutting direction along defined paths and having distal ends and proximal ends; -
moving the cutting bands relative to and around the guide arms, respectively, in the cutting direction along the defined paths; inserting the distal ends of the guide arms in the bone to move the cutting bands through the bone in the cutting direction to resect the bone along the plane of the guide arms; advancing the guide arms forwardly into the bone to resect the bone to a desired depth; and withdrawing the guide arms from the bone to withdraw the cutting bands therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification