Spinal instrumentation system with articulated modules
First Claim
1. A spinal osteosynthesis apparatus, comprising:
- a first module having a first ball;
a second module having a first socket receiving said first ball therein;
a clamping member disposed on said second module, said clamping member being made of a shape memory material; and
wherein said clamping member permits relative motion of said first ball in said first socket when at a first temperature to correspondingly position said first module relative to said second module, and said clamping member clamps said first ball within said first socket when at a second temperature greater than said first temperature to provide a generally rigid assembly of said first module and said second module.
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Abstract
This spinal osteosynthesis instrumentation comprises at least two modules (1, 2) articulated together by a male-female spherical connection (5, 8) permitting a relative orientation of the modules in all directions, and ring (14) for rigidifying the assembly of the modules (1, 2) in the desired orientation so as to adapt it to the anatomy of the considered spinal segment. The modules (1, 2) each comprise a body (3) in which is formed a spherical socket (5) opening onto an end of the body, and a spherical head or ball (8) of an adjacent module can be inserted in this socket and maintained therein by a clipping action thereby forming a ball joint. This articulated system is extremely flexible and can be easily adapted to the anatomies of the spinal segments without exerting a substantial force on the patient, and can be maintained with the desired angulation by use of rings (14) clamping the articulated connections and composed of an alloy having a shape memory which clamp the balls (8) at the temperature of the body of the patient.
342 Citations
49 Claims
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1. A spinal osteosynthesis apparatus, comprising:
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a first module having a first ball;
a second module having a first socket receiving said first ball therein;
a clamping member disposed on said second module, said clamping member being made of a shape memory material; and
wherein said clamping member permits relative motion of said first ball in said first socket when at a first temperature to correspondingly position said first module relative to said second module, and said clamping member clamps said first ball within said first socket when at a second temperature greater than said first temperature to provide a generally rigid assembly of said first module and said second module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A spinal osteosynthesis apparatus, comprising:
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a first module having a first ball;
a second module defining a first socket, said first socket receiving said first ball therein, said second module being elastically deformable to receive said first ball in said first socket by a clipping action and to retain said first ball in said first socket, said second module being configured to permit positioning of said first module relative to said second module while said first ball is retained in said first socket and to selectively clamp said first ball in said first socket to provide a generally rigid assembly; and
wherein at least one of said first module and said second module carries a bone anchorage element configured to engage a patient'"'"'s spine. - View Dependent Claims (30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A spinal osteosynthesis apparatus, comprising:
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a first chain of a first number of articulated modules, said first modules being connected together by a corresponding first number of ball-and-socket joints, a first one of said first modules including a first hook configured to engage a patient'"'"'s spine, and a second one of said first modules defining a first opening configured to receive a first threaded fastener for engaging the patient'"'"'s spine;
a second chain of a second number of articulated modules, said second modules being connected together by a corresponding second number of ball-and-socket joints, a first one of said second modules including a second hook configured to engage the patient'"'"'s spine, a second one of said second modules defining a second opening configured to receive a second threaded fastener for engaging the patient'"'"'s spine; and
wherein a third one of said first modules is transversely connected to a third one of said second modules by a ball-and-socket joint laterally disposed between said first chain and said second chain. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
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Specification