Medical device for intraoperative measurement and interpretation of bone density during spinal surgery

Abstract

Provided are bone quality and/or strength measuring devices. In some embodiments, the devices include a body and a detector disposed therein designed to interact with a bone, determine the quality and/or strength thereof, and communicate an evaluation thereof to a user. The presently disclosed devices can also include a torque and/or force sensor that facilitates placement of the device and/or that is in communication with the detector to cause the detector to evaluate the bone; an output that feedback to a user based on the quality and/or strength of the bone determined by the detector, and/or a piston that interacts with the detector to cause the detector to interact with and thereby evaluate the bone. Also provided are methods for determining if a region of a bone is appropriate for placement of an orthopedic hardware piece and methods for reducing risk of a complication of spinal surgery associated with failure of an orthopedic hardware piece.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.