Facet fixation devices
First Claim
1. An expandable sleeve deployable in a surgical implant comprised of a head, a tubular shaft defining an open interior, and a distal tip, the shaft having a length dimension and provided with a plurality of slots that divide the shaft into partitions, wherein each of the partitions has a length, and the length of the partitions are not all equal.
16 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is an expandable sleeve deployable in a surgical implant. The sleeve has a head, a tubular shaft defining an open interior, and a distal tip, with the shaft having a length dimension. The shaft is provided with a plurality of slots that divide the shaft into partitions, wherein each of the partitions has a length, and the length of the partitions are not all equal. For example, the slots may have a curved portion that extends at an angle between 0° and 90° to the length dimension of the shaft. The slots may also have a straight portion and a curved portion. Further, the invention in another embodiment includes an expander pin, and in yet another embodiment, includes an expander pin.
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Citations
38 Claims
- 1. An expandable sleeve deployable in a surgical implant comprised of a head, a tubular shaft defining an open interior, and a distal tip, the shaft having a length dimension and provided with a plurality of slots that divide the shaft into partitions, wherein each of the partitions has a length, and the length of the partitions are not all equal.
- 15. An expandable sleeve deployable in a surgical implant comprised of a head, a tubular shaft defining an open interior, and a distal tip, the shaft having a length dimension and provided with a plurality of slots extending in the length dimension, the slots having an arcuate shape over at least a portion of the slot length, wherein the slots divide the shaft into partitions, and wherein the slots extend from a midsection of the shaft to a terminal location on the shaft short of the distal tip.
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28. A surgical implant comprised of an expandable sleeve deployable in a surgical implant comprised of a head, a tubular shaft defining an open interior, and a distal tip, the shaft having a length dimension and provided with a plurality of slots that divide the shaft into partitions, wherein each of the partitions has a length, and the length of the partitions are not all equal;
- and an expander pin comprised of a head and a shaft positioned within the open interior.
- View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
Specification