# US 10,118,029 B2 · Drill assembly for accessing bone > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,118,029 B2 - Document ID: US10118029B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/948,603 - Filed: 2015-11-23 - Published: 2016-03-17 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2014-03-31 - Assignees: K-D Instruments, Inc. - Applicants: K-D Instruments, Inc. - Inventors: Dennison Hamilton - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10118029B2 ## CPC - A61N 1/0551: {Spinal or peripheral nerve electrodes} - A61B 17/1622: {Drill handpieces (A61B17/1626, A61B17/1628 take precedence)} - A61B 17/1626: {Control means; Display units} - A61B 17/1671: {for the spine} - A61B 17/1697: {specially adapted for wire insertion} - A61B 17/1757: {for the spine} - A61B 17/34: Trocars; Puncturing needles - A61M 25/09041: {Mechanisms for insertion of guide wires} - A61B 17/1615: {Drill bits, i.e. rotating tools extending from a handpiece to contact the worked material} - A61B 17/3421: {Cannulas} - A61B 17/3468: {for implanting or removing devices, e.g. prostheses, implants, seeds, wires (devices for implanting seeds A61M37/0069)} - A61B 17/3472: {for bones, e.g. intraosseus injections} - A61B 2017/3458: {threaded} - A61M 25/0662: {Guide tubes} - A61M 2025/09125: {Device for locking a guide wire in a fixed position with respect to the catheter or the human body} - A61N: ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY (measurement of bioelectric currents A61B; surgical instruments, devices or methods for transferring non-mechanical forms of energy to or from the body A61B18/00; anaesthetic apparatus in general A61M; incandescent lamps H01K; infrared radiators for heating H05B) - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} ## Abstract A system and method for implanting and stabilizing spinal cord stimulators in an epidural space of the spinal column of a patient to prevent or limit axial movement of the stimulators once implanted in the epidural space. The system includes a drill assembly, a guide wire assembly, and a guide wire receiver. The drill assembly includes a cannula, a drill for creating access points in the patient's spinal column for implanting the stimulators, and an incremental drill adjuster for drilling into the patient's lamina a pre-set, discrete distance. The guide wire assembly includes a hollowed guide wire sleeve, a guide wire housed within the sleeve, and a magnet disposed on a proximal end of the guide wire assembly. The guide wire receiver includes a scoop for receiving and catching the magnet to assist in feeding the stimulators through the epidural space. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A drill assembly for accessing bone, comprising: a cannula having a handle and a hollowed cannula shaft coupled to and extending from the handle, wherein the hollowed cannula shaft presents a cannula lumen; a drill having a drill handle and a hollowed drill shaft presenting a drill lumen, wherein the drill shaft has proximal and distal ends, wherein a drill bit is provided on the proximal end of the shaft, wherein the drill shaft is configured to be inserted in the cannula lumen; and an incremental drill adjuster at least partially mounted within the handle of the cannula and configured to advance the drill shaft by a pre-set distance, wherein the incremental drill adjuster includes a spring-loaded ball detent having a spring and a ball positioned proximate the spring and operable to act against the spring to retract the spring. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The drill assembly of claim 1, wherein the spring and ball are located in the cannula handle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The drill assembly of claim 2, wherein the distal end of the drill shaft includes a plurality of formed adjacent detents, wherein a portion of the ball of the spring-loaded ball detent is configured to rest in one of the plurality of adjacent detents, such that incremental adjustment of the drill relative to the cannula results in the ball being advanced proximally to one of the plurality of formed adjacent detents. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The drill assembly of claim 3, wherein the handle of the cannula includes a hollowed portion to present a chamber for receipt of the ball and the spring, wherein the chamber is covered with a cap, wherein an end of the spring is secured to an inside of the cap. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The drill assembly of claim 4, wherein the drill handle is configured to receive a force applied by a user to actuate the incremental drill adjuster, such that application of a sufficient adjustment force against the drill handle overcomes a force of the spring and retracts the ball into the chamber. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The drill assembly of claim 5, wherein upon the ball being retracted into the chamber, the drill is configured to be incrementally adjusted proximally by a length of at least one of the plurality of detents formed in the drill shaft. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The drill assembly of claim 1, further including a drill stylet having a drill stylet handle and a drill stylet shaft, wherein the drill stylet shaft is configured to be fed through the drill lumen, wherein the drill stylet handle includes left and right side walls. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The drill assembly of claim 7, wherein the drill handle has a cutout formed in the handle for receipt of a portion of the drill stylet handle, wherein the cutout includes a seat and left and right side walls extending distally from the seat, wherein the cutout further includes a notch extending proximally from the seat. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The drill assembly of claim 8, wherein a bottom of the drill stylet handle is complementally shaped to be received within the cutout in the drill handle and seated against the seat of the drill handle, wherein the left and right side walls of the cutout in the drill handle are complementally shaped to fit and receive the left and right side walls of the drill stylet handle. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The drill assembly of claim 9, wherein the drill stylet handle is rotatable approximately 90 degrees about a stylet shaft axis, wherein upon rotation of approximately 90 degrees of the drill stylet handle, a bottom of the drill stylet handle is sized and configured to be received within the notch of the drill handle, such that a length of the drill stylet shaft is external to a proximal-most end of the drill shaft. ### Claim 11 A drill assembly for accessing bone, comprising: a cannula having a handle and a hollowed cannula shaft coupled to and extending from the handle, wherein the hollowed cannula shaft presents a cannula lumen; a drill having a drill handle and a hollowed drill shaft presenting a drill lumen, wherein the drill shaft has proximal and distal ends, wherein a drill bit is provided on the proximal end of the shaft, wherein the drill shaft is configured to be inserted in the cannula lumen, wherein the drill handle is rotatable approximately 90 degrees with respect to the cannula handle; a drill stylet having a drill stylet handle and a drill stylet shaft, wherein the drill stylet shaft is configured to be fed through the drill lumen, wherein the drill stylet handle is rotatable approximately 90 degrees with respect to the drill handle; and an incremental drill adjuster at least partially mounted within the handle of the cannula and configured to advance the drill shaft by a pre-set distance, wherein the incremental drill adjuster includes a spring-loaded ball detent having a spring and a ball positioned proximate the spring and operable to act against the spring to retract the spring. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The drill assembly of claim 11, wherein the drill is configured to be incrementally advanced upon application of a rotational force by a user. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The drill assembly of claim 11, wherein the spring and ball are located in the cannula handle. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The drill assembly of claim 13, wherein the distal end of the drill shaft includes a plurality of formed adjacent detents, wherein a portion of the ball of the spring-loaded ball detent is configured to rest in one of the plurality of adjacent detents, such that incremental adjustment of the drill relative to the cannula results in the ball being advanced proximally to one of the plurality of formed adjacent detents. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The drill assembly of claim 14, wherein the handle of the cannula includes a hollowed portion to present a chamber for receipt of the ball and the spring, wherein the chamber is covered with a cap, wherein an end of the spring is secured to an inside of the cap. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The drill assembly of claim 15, wherein the drill handle is configured to receive a force applied by a user to actuate the incremental drill adjuster, such that application of a sufficient adjustment force against the drill handle overcomes a force of the spring and retracts the ball into the chamber. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The drill assembly of claim 16, wherein upon the ball being retracted into the chamber, the drill is configured to be incrementally adjusted proximally by a length of at least one of the plurality of detents formed in the drill shaft. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The drill assembly of claim 11, wherein the drill handle has a cutout formed in the handle for receipt of a portion of the drill stylet handle, wherein the cutout includes a seat and left and right side walls extending distally from the seat, wherein the cutout further includes a notch extending proximally from the seat. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The drill assembly of claim 18, wherein the drill stylet handle includes left and right side walls, wherein a bottom of the drill stylet handle is complementally shaped to be received within the cutout in the drill handle and seated against the seat of the drill handle, wherein the left and right side walls of the cutout in the drill handle are complementally shaped to fit and receive the left and right side walls of the drill stylet handle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The drill assembly of claim 19, wherein the drill stylet handle is rotatable approximately 90 degrees about a stylet shaft axis, wherein upon rotation of approximately 90 degrees of the drill stylet handle, a bottom of the drill stylet handle is sized and configured to be received within the notch of the drill handle, such that a length of the drill stylet shaft is external to a proximal-most end of the drill shaft. ### Claim 21 A drill assembly for accessing bone, comprising: a cannula having a handle and a hollowed cannula shaft coupled to and extending from the handle, wherein the hollowed cannula shaft presents a cannula lumen; a drill having a drill handle and a hollowed drill shaft presenting a drill lumen, wherein the drill shaft has proximal and distal ends, wherein a drill bit is provided on the proximal end of the shaft, wherein the drill shaft is configured to be inserted in the cannula lumen, wherein the drill handle is rotatable approximately 90 degrees with respect to the cannula handle; a drill stylet having a drill stylet handle and a drill stylet shaft, wherein the drill stylet shaft is configured to be fed through the drill lumen, wherein the drill stylet handle is rotatable approximately 90 degrees with respect to the drill handle, wherein the drill handle has a cutout formed in the handle for receipt of a portion of the drill stylet handle, wherein the cutout includes a seat and left and right side walls extending distally from the seat, wherein the cutout further includes a notch extending proximally from the seat; and an incremental drill adjuster associated with one of the cannula and the drill and configured to advance the drill shaft by a pre-set distance.