Soft tissue securing anchor

• US 7,163,540 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2003
• Issued: 01/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vite Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: Jeannette Martello
• Inventors: Martello, Jeannette
• Primary Examiner(s): Philogene; Pedro
• Application Number:
  US10/654,958
• Publication Number:
  US 20040230196A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,229 Days
• Field of Search: 606/232, 606/73, 606/72, 606/104, 623/13.14
• US Class Current: 606/319
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0401 Suture anchors, buttons or pledgets, i.e. means for attaching sutures to bone, cartilage or soft tissue; Instruments for applying or removing suture anchors A61B17/0642 takes precedence; fixation devices for tendons or ligaments A61F2/0811
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0414 having a suture-receiving opening, e.g. lateral opening
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/044 with a threaded shaft, e.g. screws
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0459 Multiple holes in the anchor through which the suture extends and locking the suture when tension is applied
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 606/907 Composed of particular material or coated
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 606/908 Bioabsorbable material
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 606/91 Polymer

Abstract

A surgical anchor is provided with one or more anchor holes distributed around the head of the anchor. Each anchor hole is inclined to allow attachment of one or more sutures to the anchor either before, during or after the anchor is seated in a bone. The upper and lower apertures of each anchor hole are chamfered, and the chamfered areas from the anchor hole to the outside edge shall be polished or somehow smoothed to remove sharp edges and rough areas which may cause friction and abrasion to soft tissue or suture material. The lower surface of the anchor head may be angled to further simplify the task of feeding a surgical needle through the anchor hole after the anchor is seated into the bone.

Claims

1. A surgical anchor comprising:

a threaded anchor body having a long axis and an outer dimension;

a head at a first end of the anchor body adapted to accommodate a tool for securing or driving the anchor body into the bone of a patient, said head having an outer dimension that is greater than the outer dimension of said anchor body so said head is adapted to rest on the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone when said anchor body is engaged in the bone and is located above the patient'"'"'s bone when the anchor body is engaged in the bone, said head further including a first outer surface oriented to extend in the direction of the surface of the bone of the patient and a second outer surface that is oriented to extend in the direction of the surface of the bone of the patient, with the first outer surface abutting the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone when the anchor body is in place and being located closer to the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone than the second outer surface; and

at least two suture passages extending through said head for receiving sutures, each passage having a longitudinal axis that is oriented at an oblique angle to the long axis of said anchor body and at an oblique angle to a plane containing the first outer surface of the head, the suture passages being oriented so that an extension of the longitudinal axis of each suture passage will not intersect the long axis of said threaded body, each of said suture passages having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of each suture passage being located near the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone and the second portion of each suture passage being located spaced apart from and above the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone and each suture passage being located above the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone when said anchor body is engaged in the patient'"'"'s bone.

2. The surgical anchor defined in claim 1, wherein the head has an upper surface, at least a portion of each suture passage extending to the upper surface of the head.

3. The surgical screw anchor defined in claim 1 wherein adjacent passages are parallel to each other.

4. The surgical screw anchor defined in claim 3 wherein the passages are oriented in a circular pattern with respect to the long axis of said anchor body.

5. A surgical anchor comprising:

a threaded anchor body having a long axis, the anchor body having an outer dimension;

a first end of said anchor body adapted to accommodate a tool for attaching said anchor body to bone of a patient, said first end having an outer surface which abuts the bone of a patient when the anchor body is attached to the bone of the patient, the first end further including an outer dimension, the outer dimension of said first end being greater than the outer dimension of said anchor body so said first end rests on the surface of a patient'"'"'s bone when said anchor body is engaged in the bone; and

at least one suture-accommodating passage defined in said first end to be located spaced from and above the surface of the bone and any tissue associated with the bone when said threaded anchor body is mounted in the bone to accept a suture thereinto and therethrough after said anchor body has been attached to the bone, said suture-accommodating passage being radially spaced apart from the long axis of said threaded anchor body and having a portion thereof located near the outer dimension of said anchor body and having a first end located adjacent to the patient'"'"'s bone and a second end spaced apart from the first end and above the patient'"'"'s bone when said anchor body is engaged in the patient'"'"'s bone said suture-accommodating passage being oriented to be at an oblique angle to a plane containing the outer surface of the first end and so that neither the suture-accommodating passage nor an extension of the suture-accommodating passage intersects the long axis of said threaded anchor body, the second end of said suture-accommodating passage being spaced farther from the patient'"'"'s bone than the first end of said suture-accommodating passage when said anchor body is engaged in the patient'"'"'s bone.

6. The surgical anchor defined in claim 5 further including means on said anchor body for signaling when said anchor body is suitably fixed to the bone.

7. A surgical screw anchor unit fixedly securing soft tissue of a patient to bone of the patient comprising:

a needle;

a suture being fixedly secured to soft tissue of a patient and attached to the needle;

a one-piece threaded anchor body having a long axis and an outer dimension, the anchor body being fixedly secured to bone of the patient;

a head at a first end of the anchor body, the head being one piece with the anchor body and having an outer dimension that is larger than the outer dimension of the anchor body so the head rests on the surface of the bone of the patient , the head being located above the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone; and

a plurality of passages through the head, the suture passing through one suture passage and being fixedly secured to the head to fixedly secure the soft tissue to the anchor body and via the anchor body fixedly to the bone of the patient, each suture passage having a longitudinal axis that is oriented at an angle with respect to the long axis of the anchor body, the longitudinal axis of each passage being oriented so that neither the longitudinal axis nor an extension of the longitudinal axis of each suture passage intersects the long axis of the anchor body, the suture passages being located above the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone, each passage having a first end and a second end and having the first end located adjacent to the patient'"'"'s bone and the second end located spaced above the patient'"'"'s bone with the second end spaced farther from the patient'"'"'s bone than the first end of each suture passage.

8. A surgical anchor unit fixedly securing soft tissue of a patient to bone of the patient comprising:

a needle;

a suture attached to the needle and being fixedly secured to soft tissue of a patient;

a one-piece threaded screw having a head, a shank and a threaded end, the head and the shank and the threaded end all being one piece with each other, the head having an arcuate outer dimension with a center, the shank having an outer dimension and a long axis which is located near the center of the outer dimension of the head, with the outer dimension of the head being greater than the outer dimension of the shank so the head rests on the surface of a patient'"'"'s bone and is located above the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone;

the head including a plurality of anchor holes each extending through the head at an oblique angle with respect to the long axis of the shank for receiving a suture, the anchor holes being located near the outer dimension of the head and radially spaced apart from the long axis of the shank and being located above the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone, each anchor hole being oriented so that neither the anchor hole nor an extension of the anchor hole intersects the long axis of the shank, each anchor hole having a first end and a second end, the second end of each anchor hole being spaced farther from the patient'"'"'s bone than the first end of the anchor hole, the suture being fixedly secured to soft tissue extending through an anchor hole and fixedly secured to the screw and fixedly securing the soft tissue being fixedly secured thereto to the patient'"'"'s bone via the one-piece screw.

9. A surgical screw anchor unit comprising:

a needle;

a suture being fixedly secured to soft tissue of a patient and attached to the needle;

a threaded anchor body with a pointed first end, a second end and a body axis extending through the ends, the anchor body being fixedly secured to bone of the patient;

a head located at the anchor body outer end, the head having an outer surface that extends in a direction of the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone;

a suture passage extending through the head and having first and second apertures and a bore connecting the first and second apertures, the second aperture being located farther away from the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone than the first aperture;

the suture extending through the suture passage and being fixedly secured to the anchor body, the soft tissue fixedly secured to the suture being fixedly secured to the patient'"'"'s bone via the fixed securing of the suture to the anchor body which is adapted to be fixedly secured to the patient'"'"'s bone;

the suture passage opening onto the outer surface of the head at the apertures; and

the suture passage being oriented with respect to the body axis to extend in a direction of the body axis with one of the apertures positioned closer to the bone of the patient than the other aperture, the suture passage being oriented so that neither the suture passage nor an extension of the suture passage intersects the body axis.

10. A surgical screw anchor unit fixedly securing soft tissue of a patient to a bone of the patient comprising:

a needle;

a suture attached to the needle and being fixedly attached to soft tissue of a patient;

a threaded anchor body with a pointed first end, a second end and a body axis extending through the ends, the anchor body being fixedly secured to bone of the patient;

a head located at the anchor body second end and having an outer surface that is oriented to extend in the direction of a surface of the patient'"'"'s bone;

a suture passage extending through the head and having first and second apertures;

the suture passing through the suture passage and being fixedly attached to the anchor body, the soft tissue being fixedly secured to the patient'"'"'s bone via the suture being fixedly attached to the soft tissue and to the anchor body;

the suture passage opening onto the outer surface of the head at the apertures; and

the suture passage being oriented at a non-right angle to the body axis of the threaded anchor body, the first aperture of the passage being located closer to the surface of the patient'"'"'s bone than the second aperture, the suture passage being oriented so that neither the suture passage nor an extension of the suture passage intersects the body axis.

11. A surgical screw anchor unit comprising:

a suture being fixedly secured to soft tissue of a patient;

a threaded anchor body having a long axis and an outer dimension, the anchor body being fixedly secured to bone of a patient;

a head at a first end of the anchor body, the head having an outer dimension that is larger than the outer dimension of the anchor body; and

a plurality of suture passages through the head, each suture passage having a first end and a second end and longitudinal axis that extends between the first end of the suture passage and the second end of the suture passage and which is oriented at an angle with respect to the long axis of the anchor body, each suture passage being spaced apart from the long axis of the anchor body and oriented so that neither the suture passage nor an extension of the suture passage intersects the long axis of the anchor body, the second end of each suture passage being spaced farther from the patient'"'"'s bone than the first end of the suture passage, the suture extending through a suture passage and being fixedly attached to the anchor body, the soft tissue being fixedly secured to the suture being fixedly secured to the bone of the patient via the suture being fixedly secured to the soft tissue and to the anchor body which is adapted to be fixedly secured to the bone of the patient.

12. A surgical screw anchor unit comprising:

a suture being fixedly secured to soft tissue of a patient;

a threaded anchor body having a long axis and an outer dimension, the anchor body being fixedly secured to bone of a patient;

a head at a first end of the anchor body; and

a suture passage through the head, the suture passage having a first end and a second end and longitudinal axis that extends between the first end of the suture passage and the second end of the suture passage and which is oriented at an angle with respect to the long axis of the anchor body, the suture passage being spaced apart from the long axis of the anchor body and oriented so that neither the suture passage nor an extension of the suture passage intersects the long axis of the anchor body, the second end of the suture passage being spaced farther from the patient'"'"'s bone than the first end of the suture passage, the suture extending through the suture passage and being fixedly attached to the anchor body, the soft tissue being fixedly secured to the suture being fixedly secured to the bone of the patient via the suture being fixedly secured to the soft tissue and to the anchor body which is adapted to be fixedly secured to the bone of the patient.