Surgical reamer cutter

Abstract

The invention provides a cutter head that reduces the cutting force and number of reamers required by increasing the depth of cut or cutting length. The cutting head uses at least one tooth placed along the length of flutes formed within the body of the cutting head. The grooves forming the flutes can follow a first helical path along the body length, maintaining a substantially constant path over a major portion of the entire length in relation to the axes or, alternatively, have a constantly changing path. A second pattern can follow a second, contiguous helical path that has a second radial orientation to the axis. The teeth can be formed from a sinusoidal wave form comprised of a continuous radius going from convex to concave, with each of the teeth having a predetermined pitch from the crest to the base. In another embodiment the crest of the teeth on the first flute is offset axially by a predetermined distance from the teeth on the adjacent flutes. The offset can be determined by dividing the pitch on each flute by the number of flutes. The cutting head can, in an alternate embodiment, have a notch within each of the flutes. The notch forms a pair of teeth, the crests of each of the teeth having either a substantially equal radius or a different radius, depending upon the placement of the notch.