Other

Mi4spine, LLC

Unisys Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

John A Miller

John R Pepper

Miquelangelo J Perez-Cruet

Yun-Yu Wang

Miguelangelo J Perez-Cruet

Brett W Tucker

Kwong Hon Wong

Larry L Byers

Horatio Seymour Wildman

Gary R Robeck

Lewis A Boone

Penny L Svenkeson

Terry J Brunmeier

Philip J Erickson

Thomas J Menart

Peter C Wilson

Cyprian Emeka Uzoh

Soon-Cheon Seo

Christian Lavoie

Andrew Herbert Simon

Rajarao Jammy

David Edward Kotecki

Andrew P Dejaco

Anthony Gene Domenicucci

Roy Arthur Carruthers

Lynne Marie Gignac

Mark Hoinkis

Brett H Engel

Hua Shen

Jenny Lian

Chenting Lin

Hans Christian Mikkelsen

James F Torgerson

Peter John Hancock

James Dunbar Walker

Keith E Barton

Stanley J Klepeis

Thomas A Bauer

Ian R Hepburn

Doug E Morrissey

Nicholas Nagel

Lee J Kimball

Robert T Sandelands

Lonny R Lebahn

Jill Slattery

Fertilizer is applied between the rows of growing plants or to the bases of growing plants in adjacent rows. A dirt moving member then moves dirt and any applied fertilizer from between the rows onto the bases of the growing plants in the adjacent rows. The dirt acts to seal the fertilizer and to significantly reduce fertilizer losses.

Fertilizer application

An interspinous process spacer insertion device that positions an interspinous process spacer between the spinous process of adjacent vertebrae in a minimally invasive percutaneous surgical procedure. The device includes a trocar rod that extends through a cannulated sleeve. The spacer is attached to the end of the cannulated sleeve, where a trocar tip of the trocar rod extends through the spacer. The trocar rod is moved through the cannulated sleeve and an incision in the patient, and is positioned between the spinous process of the vertebra to align the device. The cannulated sleeve is then moved down the trocar rod so that the spacer slides between the spinous process, and the trocar rod is then withdrawn from the patient. The spacer is then rotated so that it locks behind the spinous process, and the cannulated sleeve is detached from the spacer and removed from the patient.

Interspinous process spacer insertion device

An up-cutting knife that has particular application for minimally invasive spinal surgical procedures. The knife includes an elongated tube that is operable to be inserted through a tubular retractor used in minimally invasive surgical procedures. One end of the elongated tube includes a curved head portion having a cutting blade formed on a top surface thereof and a suction port, and an opposite end of the tube is coupled to a handle having a chamber. A suction device can be coupled to an outlet port in the handle that causes blood and other surgical material to be drawn through the tube and out of the handle.

Up cutting knife with suction

A surgical delivery system that has particular application for providing bone graft material to an interbody device that restores disc space height during spinal fusion surgery. The bone graft delivery system includes a body portion and a shaft coupled thereto. An auger extends through a bore in the shaft and into the body portion. An end of the shaft opposite to the body portion is configured to be coupled to the interbody device, where the auger extends through a channel in the interbody device. Bone graft material is placed in a hopper coupled to the shaft, where the auger is manually or automatically rotated to deliver the bone graft material through the shaft and into the interbody device where it is dispersed into the disc space.

Bone graft delivery system for a vertebral interbody device

A retractor device for cervical spinal fusion surgery. The retractor device includes a first post assembly having a first pin for mounting the first post assembly to a first vertebral body and a first rod coupled thereto in a multi-axial manner so that the first rod can be pivoted relative to the first pin. The retractor device also includes a second post assembly having a second pin for mounting the second post assembly to a second vertebral body and a second rod coupled thereto in a multi-axial manner so that the second rod can be pivoted relative to the second pin. The retractor device also includes a first retractor blade having a first retractor blade arm slideably engageable to the first rod, and a second retractor blade having a second retractor blade arm slideably engageable to the second rod. The first retractor blade is slid down the first rod and the second retractor blade is slid down the second rod to be positioned and separate the anatomical structures.

Retractor device for cervical spinal fusion

A mechanism for isolating failures in a digital system is provided. In one embodiment, a fault table is defined for each unit in the system. Related faults are ordered within the table to reflect the time-order in which the faults would be activated during operation of the associated unit. When multiple related faults are reported for a given unit in the system, the fault that is first located when a linear search of the corresponding fault table is conducted is considered the source of the failure within the unit. If faults are reported for multiple units, the source of the failure for the system is identified using at least one of primary and second priority values assigned to the faults, timestamps obtained when the faults are reported, and an order in which the faults are logged.

Fault isolation system and method

A surgical screw that includes a body portion that facilitates bone in-growth from a bone in which the screw is mounted so as to stabilize the screw in the bone. The body portion can have various configurations for facilitating bone in-growth, such as indentations, a roughened surface, such as by acid etching or abrasive media blasting, specialized coatings, such as hydroxyapetite, sintered beads, machined channels, etc. Because the body portion of the screw facilitates bone growth, the screw will be more firmly mounted to the bone so as to have a greater integrity in response to movement of the bone. The type of surgical screw can be any surgical screw that will benefit from being better anchored in bone, such as pedicle screws, long bone screws, cervical fusion screws, tendon anchoring screws, etc.

Surgical screw including a body that facilitates bone in-growth

Minimally invasive interspinous process spacer insertion device

An interbody device that restores the disc space height between two vertebrae during spinal fusion surgery. The device includes a center plate surrounded by a perimeter portion that combine to have a relatively flat configuration in one dimension and relatively wide configuration in a perpendicular dimension. After the disc space has been cleared, the device is inserted into the disc space in a direction so that the wide dimension of the device is substantially parallel to the body of the vertebrae. The device is then rotated so that the wide dimension of the device becomes perpendicular to the vertebral body so as to cause the disc space height to be restored. Bone graft material is then introduced through a fill tube coupled to the device so that the bone graft material is distributed on both sides of the center plate and into the disc space.

Minimally invasive interbody device

A disc space preparation device that has particular application for removing disc material during spinal fusion surgery. The disc preparation device includes a body portion that houses a motor having a shaft attached thereto that is rotated by the motor. The shaft extends through a chamber in a neck portion of the device and into an open head portion of the device at the end of the neck portion opposite to the housing. The head portion rotates relative to the neck portion. The head portion includes a series of blades that are used to cut-away the disc material. The shaft includes an auger that draws the cut material through the neck portion. A suction port is coupled to the chamber in the neck portion to remove the disc material therefrom.

Disc space preparation device for spinal surgery

A collection device for collecting bone material during a spinal fusion surgical procedure so that the bone material can later be used as a graft material for the fusion procedure. The device includes a container that collects the bone and other material that is removed from the patient during the surgical procedure through a suction hose. The device includes a plunger having a filter plate sealed to the inside of the container. The plunger is pushed down into the collected material in the container so that blood and other liquids are forced through the plate to be separated from the bone material. A cover at the bottom of the container can be removed to remove the collected bone material.

Device for collecting bone material during a surgical procedure

A method for providing vertebral disc annular fibrosis tensioning and lengthening that restores the loss of disc height and provides disc regeneration. In one non-limiting embodiment, the method includes inserting pedicle screws into the vertebral bodies of adjacent vertebra and positioning a spring in compression between and in contact with the pedicle screws so that the spring bias forces the pedicle screws apart to provide a distractive force that increases the height of the disc space and promotes the disc regeneration.

Method for vertebral disc annular fibrosis tensioning and lengthening

An ammonia knife assembly is mounted onto a toolbar and is moved across a field to apply ammonia into the bottom of a trench. The ammonia knife assembly includes a knife for piercing the ground and creating the trench, an ammonia supply tube, and a horizontal shield attached to the knife. The shield has a rounded portion extending forwardly from the leading edge and two side portions extending outwardly from the sides of the knife for deflecting any dirt particles that may be thrown upwardly and outwardly from the leading edge of the knife as it pierces the ground.

Side dressing shield

A vertebral disc annular fibrosis tensioning and lengthening device that restores the loss of disc height as a result of disc degeneration and other factors. The vertebral disc annular fibrosis tensioning and lengthening device includes pedicle screws having heads with cup-shaped cavities. The pedicle screws are threaded into the vertebral bodies of adjacent vertebrae through the pedicles so that open parts of the heads of the pedicle screws face each other. A spring is inserted into the cup-shaped cavities in compression so that the spring bias forces the pedicle screws apart, thus increasing the height of the disc space.

Vertebral disc annular fibrosis tensioning and lengthening device

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Bloomfield Village, MI, United States of America

John A Miller