Surgical implant alignment device

An implant placement and alignment system for positioning and aligning, by a medical professional, an orthopedic implant to a bone attachment site of a patient using a plurality of superficial anatomic landmarks on an exterior of the patient and remote from the bone attachment site, the system comprising:

• an implantation tool having a distal end that is releasably attachable to an orthopedic implant in a fixed angular position to define a plane of interest of the orthopedic implant and a predetermined axis of interest of the orthopedic implant within the plane of interest, and a proximal end adapted for holding by the medical professional;
• and
• an alignment device securable to the implantation tool for aligning the predetermined axis of interest of the orthopedic implant with the bone attachment site, the alignment device comprising:
• at least one light source configured to project an illuminated indication pattern onto the plane of interest of the orthopedic implant and aligned with the predetermined axis of interest of the orthopedic implant;
• and
• a mounting interface configured to secure the light source to the implantation tool in a location spaced from the distal end, in a fixed angular position relative to the implantation tool, and to maintain an angular relationship between the light source and the orthopedic plate as the distal end of the implantation tool is inserted into the patient by the medical professional and moved toward the bone attachment site that is at least partially out-of-view of the medical professional, wherein
• the illuminated indication pattern extends a sufficient lateral distance away from the implantation tool to allow the medical professional to align the axis of interest of the orthopedic plate with the out-of-view bone attachment site using the plurality of superficial anatomic landmarks, and wherein
• the illuminated indication pattern further comprises a crosshair pattern formed by oppositely-projected primary light lines that are aligned with the predetermined axis of interest of the orthopedic plate and oppositely-projected secondary light lines that are transverse to the predetermined axis of interest.

A method for mounting an orthopedic plate to a bone attachment site of a patient using a plate holder having a proximal end adapted for holding by a medical professional, a distal end, an orthopedic plate secured to the distal end in a fixed angular position to define a plane of interest of the orthopedic plate and a predetermined axis of interest of the orthopedic plate within the plane of interest, and an alignment device having a light source secured to the plate holder in a location spaced from the distal end and configured to illuminate at least one superficial anatomic landmark on an exterior of the patient and remote from the bone attachment site, the method comprising:

• using the light source of the alignment device to project an illuminated indication pattern onto the plane of interest of the orthopedic plate and aligned with the predetermined axis of interest of the orthopedic plate;
• moving the plate holder to insert the orthopedic plate into the patient and adjacent to a bone attachment site that is out-of-view of the medical professional;
• rotating the plate holder to align the illuminated indication pattern with the at least one superficial anatomic landmark that is visible to the medical professional on an outer surface of the patient, thereby positioning the orthopedic plate in a desired collinear orientation relative to the out-of-view bone attachment site;
• attaching the orthopedic plate to the bone attachment site;
• and
• releasing the plate holder from the orthopedic plate and removing the plate holder from the patient.