The Anspach Effort, Inc.

Other

Depuy Synthes Products, Inc.

William E Anspach, Iii

Eddy H Del Rio

William S Reid

Eddie H Del Rio

Eddy W Del Rio

For suture tying in a medical procedure including the use of an anchor that includes a suture locking device that includes a sliding pin guided by axial side slots formed in the locking device that forces the suture where the two ends thereof are inserted into the interior of the suture locking mechanism to drive the captured suture and pin to fit into a recess on the top of the suture locking mechanism such that the top of the pin binds the suture against the upper inner surface of the recess. The recess can be serrated to enhance the locking capability and the pin is polygonal shaped to provide side surfaces that run parallel to the wall of the recess to assure that the side portion of the pin does not fracture the suture and cause it to weaken. The locking of the suture is automatic upon the deployment of the anchor which actuates the pin into the locking position, thus eliminating the necessity of manually knotting the suture and improving the cinching of the tissue to the bone. The suture locking mechanism is usable for attaching tissue to the bone, tying tissue to tissue and the like. The disclosure also includes the method of deploying the combined anchor and suture locking device in a medical procedure.

Anchor/suture used for medical procedures

A threaded receptacle for receiving a commercially available knotless suture anchor is designed to secure sutures for tying soft tissue in patients that have bone characteristics where the typical anchor is avulsed because of the weakness of the bone structure, a cavity exists in the bone where an anchor has been removed. The threaded receptacle includes a helical thread that is maximized to provide sustaining surface and includes a central bore and an internal flange that is dimensioned to provide a central opening to allow the knotless suture anchor to pass into a cavity and prevent the knotless suture anchor from being expulsed when deployed. The internal dimension of the cavity is designed to cause the tips of the wings of the anchor to fold to assure sufficient holding structure. In a second embodiment the reduced diameter portion is at the end of the receptacle so that the anchor passes through the end of the receptacle and the locking portion remains within the receptacle having both the receptacle and anchor serving as a means for securing the mechanism to the bone.

Knotless suture anchor and receptacle combination

A suture tensioning apparatus for tightening the suture used to tie a tissue of a patient to the bone of the patient so that the tissue will cinch to the bone. A lever is mounted on a stub shaft that is supported to a base member and is movable in a lateral position. A pair of spaced spools are mounted on the lever and the reach of the suture is wrapped around each of the spools. Means, including a coil spring wrapped around the stub shaft is connected to the lever and a rotatable dome. The movement of the lever causes the lower portion of the coils to unwrap around the stub shaft, and rotation of the dome causes the upper portion of the coils to unwrap whereby the movement of the coil spring forces the lever to return to its original position. The tensioning apparatus can be incorporated into an existing suture gun or can be made integral therewith.

Suture tensioning device

The drill bit for drilling a hole in bone structure is made to inherently prevent cutting when the resistive force is removed by providing an annular wall with a cutting edge formed on the bottom edge and lying in a plane that is in the circumferential plane of the annular wall and providing a shield in the same plane and disposed adjacent to the cutting edge that is automatically displaced when a resistive load is applied and automatically returns to shield the cutting edge when the resistive load ceases. In one embodiment the wall of the annular wall is judiciously slotted to provide the automatic movement of the shield and in another embodiment the shield is spring load to be displaced and returned to its original position. The perforator of this invention includes safety mechanism that prevents penetration of the perforator when the drill bit has completed the cutting operation and the resistive load is removed. The perforator cuts the hole by an annular slot leaving a plug of the bone structure that is removed and returned to the original hole for re-filling the hole which aids in the healing process. A clutch may be provided that decouples the drill bit from the drive motor upon sensing a void in the drill passage during the drilling operation.

Perforator

A myringotomy tube with a axial lumen is constructed with an integral cutting tang extending axially from the flange of the grommet for incising the tympanic membrane without the necessity of a scalpel. A disposable inserter is optionally included that frictionally fits the myringotomy tube to the inserter and includes a handle with an ejector mechanism for releasing the myringotomy tube after it is implanted. The handle is injection molded and inexpensive to fabricate so that the inserter is disposable. The method of construction includes the sequence of assembly to allow the grommet to be releasably affixed to the inserter. The surgical method of use of the inserter and grommet allows the grommet to be implanted in a single step eliminating the necessity of a separate incision.

Integral cutting instrument and myringotomy tube

An expandable fastener device for attaching tissue to bone and a surgical operating technique for using The fastener device includes a shaft which will pierce tissue and when rotated, will drill a hole in bone with a drill point to receive the fastener in bone. The device can be drilled in place and fixed in place by actuation of the device itself.

Soft tissue fastener device

An expandable fastener device for attaching tissue to bone and a surgical operating technique for using it. The fastener device includes a shaft which will pierce tissue and when rotated, will drill a hole in bone with a drill point to receive the fastener in bone. The device can be drilled in place and fixed in place by actuation of the device itself. The anchor porion of the fastener device remaining in the body when the shaft is sheared and removed, is made from a a bioabsorbable polymer material and an implantable grade titanium material or alloy thereof. The portion of the fastener that captures the body soft tissue (tendon or ligaments) is biodegradable and the portion anchored to the bone is the titanium material. Another embodiment constructs the component that captures the body soft tissue into a pedal-like integral disk where each pedal flexes to conform to the shape of the bone surface adjacent thereto.

Integral myringotomy tube and inserter

An expandable rivet assembly for attaching objects, especially when using bone. The assembly includes a rivet and puller where the puller is pulled to expand the rivet. A stop is provided in the rivet to set an upper limit to the expansion of the rivet by the puller. This rivet is useful in material of varying density, and has slots on the side and a contoured surface to initiate bending at a desired location.

Expandable rivet assembly

A hand-held surgical rotary impact tool and instrument extension for removing artificial hip, or acetabular, cups of a hip joint by rotating the cup a predetermined number of degrees. This rotational limitation is provided by a pin and arcuate groove connection between a fixed housing and rotatable shaft. While instrument extensions are sized to allow for different acetabular, or hip, cups, the cup engaging end can have radially adjustable pins for permitting a variable diameter for connection to a cup.

Surgical instrument for removing artificial acetabular cups

A suture anchor, or rivet, for fixing one end of a suture in a bone has a forward and formed of a plurality of truncated cones positioned in line behind a cone with a cylindrical member extending from the last truncated cone forming the rear end; a plurality of spiral grooves extend through the outer surfaces of the truncated cone and cone for spirally inserting the anchor, the spiral grooves forming serrations therebetween to prevent the suture anchor from being withdrawn from a bone into which it has been driven. An impact tool is used having a hole in the end to receive and engage the cylindrical member of the suture anchor.

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Stuart, FL, United States of America

William E Anspach, Iii