Other

Cross Medicalproducts, Inc.

Kevin Jon Lawson

Jens Peter Timm

A surgical method for exposure of the sacroiliac joint using a posterior approach begins with a longitudinal incision over the posterior iliac crest, centered on the posterior iliac spine. Holes which will be used to repair the iliac osteotomy are made obliquely from the medial to lateral to cross the plane of exposure. A cut through the bone is made lateral to the drill holes and centered over the sacroiliac complex with the aid of fluoroscope or radiograph imaging. The medial part of the iliac crest is freed from the back of the sacrum and displaced medially for the sacroiliac joint complex to be inspected, debrided, or curettaged for fusion. The closure and subsequent healing are facilitated by the predrilled oblique holes. These are used to re-attach the medial iliac bone to the remaining lateral ilium.

Sacroiliac joint exposure, fusion, and debridement

A prosthetic nucleus replacement embodiment of the present invention comprises a rounded shaped ceramic domed body with a receptacle in its bottom side. A keeled base of biocompatible metal is press-fit into the receptacle at any relative angle to complete a two-piece assembly. A keel part of the base especially is finished in porous coated metal and shaped to promote natural in-growth of bone from the inferior vertebrae.

Keeled prosthetic nucleus

A method for installing spine-stabilization components comprises directing a long plastic flexible tool through a sublaminar space of a human spine vertebrae inside the spinal canal. Such tool enters the sublaminar space of a particular one of the human spine vertebrae posteriorly from the intervertebral gap with an adjacent vertebrae. It exits the sublaminar space of the particular one of the human spine vertebrae posteriorly from the intervertebral gap with another opposite-side adjacent vertebrae. A suture is threaded through an eye of the tool. The suture is pulled back through the sublaminar space by withdrawing the long plastic flexible tool. The suture is detached from the long plastic flexible tool. A pulled-through part of the suture is attached to a spinal-fixation wire or cable. The suture is then usable as a pilot-line to draw the spinal-fixation wire or cable through the sublaminar space. The spinal-fixation wire or cable is used to anchor a spinal-fixation system.

Surgical tool and method for passing pilot-line sutures through spinal vertebrae

A spinal-fixation system comprises a dual parallel bridging that runs along a posterior length of the spine and is anchored with cables looped through a dorsal corner of the spinal canals of respective adjacent vertebrae.

Cable-anchor system for spinal fixation

A prosthetic nucleus replacement comprises a solid flattened oval disk. The top surface of the disc is domed and has a crest that is about three times higher than the crest on the domed bottom surface. Both top and bottom surfaces are therefore convex. A peg extends down from the middle of the bottom domed surface and is used to pin the disc to the lower of two vertebrae it fits between. Metal markers are inserted into the peg and an outside edge of the disc so that radiographs can be used to determine the disc's in situ position. The prosthetic nucleus replacement is surgically implanted into the hollowed out intervertebral space through a flap cut in the natural annulus fibrosis. The lower vertebrae is prepared to receive the peg by clearing the material covering the top of the bone matrix. Bone cement is used around the peg to ensure a tight fit and immobile attachment of the disc to the lower vertebrae.

Prosthetic nucleus replacement for surgical reconstruction of

A spine-stabilization implant has a one-piece shell with bone-tapping screw threads on its outside surface. The screw threads are longitudinally interrupted by several end-to-end flutes distributed in parallel around the circumference. Bone-growth access windows are provided at several locations through the flutes. Such construction gives the spine-stabilization implant a hexagonal cross-section with a hollow central core. A drive tool can be slipped into the back end. After spreading two adjacent vertebrae as much as the interconnecting tissues will allow, a bore is made by a surgeon during an operation into the inter-vertebral space of a patient's spine, e.g., deep into the disc. The drive tool is then used to push the spine-stabilization implant down the bore and into the inter-vertebral space. The tool is then twisted such that the bone-tapping screw threads cut into and lock onto the opposite surfaces of the adjacent vertebrae. The tool is then withdrawn. Morselized bone is packed into the spine-stabilization implant to promote new bone growth that will fuse together the opposite surfaces of the adjacent vertebrae.

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Redding, CA, United States of America

Kevin Jon Lawson