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:
Feb. 25, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 30, 1999
Mark A. Ritchart, Murrieta, CA (US);
Seth A. Foerster, San Clemente, CA (US);
OPUS Medical, Inc., San Juan Capistrano, CA (US);
Abstract
An innovative bone anchor and methods for securing connective tissue, such as tendons, to bone are disclosed which permit a suture attachment which lies entirely beneath the cortical bone surface, and wherein the suturing material between the connective tissue and the bone anchor is oriented in a direction generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the bone anchor, so that axial pull-out forces exerted on the bone anchor are minimized. The suture attachment to the bone anchor involves the looping of a substantial length of suturing material around a shaft of the anchor, thereby avoiding an eyelet connection which requires a knot and which concentrates stress on a very small portion of the suturing material. Thus, failure rates are greatly decreased over conventional techniques, and the inventive procedures are significantly easier to perform than conventional techniques.