The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 26, 1994
Filed:
Feb. 11, 1993
Ben K Graf, Madison, WI (US);
Thomas D Rosenberg, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Joseph H Sklar, Longmeadow, MA (US);
Michael C Ferragamo, No. Dighton, MA (US);
American Cyanamid Company, Wayne, NJ (US);
Abstract
A graft attachment device having an elongated body with a leading end and a trailing end, each defining an element for carrying a filament such as a suture. The body further defines at least one element for attaching to the body either a graft or a graft connection element which is in turn connected to the graft. The element for attaching enables the body to rotate relative to the graft from an initial insertion position, along an axis substantially parallel to the graft, to a final fixation position transverse to the graft to secure the graft relative to a bone. A method of attaching a graft to the bone using such a graft attachment device includes forming a socket in a bone such as a femur to accommodate an end of the graft, the socket having an opening at one end and a floor at its opposite end. A passage is formed from the floor of the socket to the opposite side of the bone, the passage having a width at least as large as the maximum width of the graft attachment device. The graft is secured to the element for attaching, and the lead and trailing filaments are inserted through the passage. The lead filament is pulled until the elongated body of the graft attachment device emerges from the passage. the elongated body is then rotated by pulling on the trailing filament to rotate the body from the initial insertion position to the final fixation position transverse to the graft. The elongated body is then seated against the surface of the bone by pulling on the graft to fixate the graft to the bone.