Sternal closure system, method and apparatus therefor
First Claim
1. A sternal closure system for maintaining left and right halves of a patient'"'"'s longitudinally incised sternum in proper spaced relationship during a surgical procedure in the thoracic cavity, the system comprising:
- a first anchor having an inner axial passage, configured to be disposed within the left half of the sternum;
a second anchor having an inner axial passage, configured to be disposed within the right half of the sternum; and
a rigid fastener made of a metallic material and defined by a body portion having two legs each being configured for repeated insertion into and withdrawal from a respective one of said inner axial passages when the first anchor and the second anchor are disposed within respective halves of the sternum, the body portion of the rigid fastener configured to externally extend across an incision of the incised sternum between the first anchor and second anchor while said legs are removably tightly held within the inner axial passages, the rigid fastener configured to maintain the left half of the sternum and the right half of the sternum in relative position upon reapproximation; and
a fixing apparatus for simultaneous linear displacement of the first and second anchor so as to bring the first and second anchor closer together and thus to reapproximate the left half of the sternum and the right half of the incised sternum, said fixing apparatus being capable to secure the first and second anchor in their relative position upon reapproximation of the left and right half of the incised sternum and said fixed apparatus is to removably insert the legs of said rigid fixing into respective longitudinal passages of said first and second anchor upon bringing the first and second anchor means closer together.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There is provided a sternal closure system for re-approximating the left and right halves of a patient'"'"'s longitudinally incised sternum during a surgical procedure in the thoracic cavity. The system includes a first anchor, disposed inside the left half of the sternum, a second anchor, disposed inside the right half of the sternum, and a fixing element for rigid connection between the first and the second anchors, respectively disposed within the left and right halves of the sternum, facilitating separation of the left and right halves of the sternum closed in this way, in case of post-operative emergency surgical procedures. An apparatus for fixing and removing the anchors is also provided.
1313 Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A sternal closure system for maintaining left and right halves of a patient'"'"'s longitudinally incised sternum in proper spaced relationship during a surgical procedure in the thoracic cavity, the system comprising:
-
a first anchor having an inner axial passage, configured to be disposed within the left half of the sternum; a second anchor having an inner axial passage, configured to be disposed within the right half of the sternum; and a rigid fastener made of a metallic material and defined by a body portion having two legs each being configured for repeated insertion into and withdrawal from a respective one of said inner axial passages when the first anchor and the second anchor are disposed within respective halves of the sternum, the body portion of the rigid fastener configured to externally extend across an incision of the incised sternum between the first anchor and second anchor while said legs are removably tightly held within the inner axial passages, the rigid fastener configured to maintain the left half of the sternum and the right half of the sternum in relative position upon reapproximation; and a fixing apparatus for simultaneous linear displacement of the first and second anchor so as to bring the first and second anchor closer together and thus to reapproximate the left half of the sternum and the right half of the incised sternum, said fixing apparatus being capable to secure the first and second anchor in their relative position upon reapproximation of the left and right half of the incised sternum and said fixed apparatus is to removably insert the legs of said rigid fixing into respective longitudinal passages of said first and second anchor upon bringing the first and second anchor means closer together. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A sternal closure system configured for reapproximating left and right halves of a patient'"'"'s longitudinally incised sternum during a surgical procedure in the thoracic cavity, the system comprising:
-
a first, at least one anchor having an inner axial passage, configured to be disposed inside the left half of the sternum; a second, at least one anchor having an inner axial passage, configured to be disposed inside the right half of the sternum; and at least one rigid fixing element made of a metallic material, said fixing element comprising a staple defined by a body portion and by two legs extending orthogonally from the body portion, said legs being configured for insertion in respective axial passages of said first and second anchors so as upon insertion, to rigidly connect said first, at least one anchor, disposed within the left half of the sternum, to said second, at least one anchor disposed within the right half of the sternum, the body portion of the rigid fixing element configured to externally extend across an incision of the incised sternum between first and second anchors with said legs of the rigid fixing element being removably tightly held within the respective axial passages of the first and second anchors, the rigid fixing element configured to maintain the left half of the sternum and the right half of the sternum in relative position for reapproximation, and a fixing apparatus configured for simultaneous linear displacement of the first and second anchors in a direction across the incision of the incised sternum so as to bring the first and second anchors closer together and thus to reapproximate the left half of the incised sternum and the right half of the incised sternum, said fixing apparatus configured to be capable of securing the first and second anchors in their relative positions upon reapproximation of the left and right halves of the incised sternum and said fixing apparatus is configured to removably insert the legs of said rigid fixing element into respective longitudinal passages of said first and second anchors upon bringing the first and second anchors together, the legs of said rigid fixing element being configured for subsequent extraction from the respective axial passages so as to facilitate separation of the left and right halves of the sternum when necessary, and for re-insertion of the fixing element therein. - View Dependent Claims (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, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
Specification