Intervertebral reamer construction

A surgical tool for use in spinal stabilization in a mammal spine having contiguous vertebrae, each vertebra including a body portion, said body portions being of generally predetermined dimension and spaced apart by a layer of tissue of generally predetermined dimension, said tool comprising:

• an operator engaging end and a distal end;
• said distal end having external dimensions dimensioned for said distal end to be inserted within an animal body and located against said layer;
• cutting means carried on said distal end for cutting at least a portion of said layer and at least a portion of said chamber within said contiguous vertebrae and layer, and said chamber being sized greater than said external dimension;
• control means for controlling a depth of cut of said cutting means between at least a first position with said cutting means retained within said external dimensions and at least a second position with said cutting means extended to form said chamber, said control means includes means for locking said cutting means in any one of a plurality of releasably locked positions between at least said first and second positions with said cutting means disposed to cut a chamber of different dimension at each of said locked positions.

A surgical tool for use in a spinal stabilization in a mammal spine having contiguous vertebra with each of said vertebra including a body portion, said tool comprising:

• a tool body having a distal end;
• said distal end having a cutting blade moveable between first and second positions with said blade in said first position dimensioned to be contained within external dimensions of said distal end and said blade in said second position dimensioned to cut a chamber sized greater than said external dimensions upon rotation of said body means;
• a manually engagable grip carried on said body means and rotatable relative thereto about an axis of rotation;
• an eccentric pin mounted generally parallel to and spaced from said axis of rotation and disposed for eccentric movement about said axis of rotation upon rotation of said grip, said eccentric pin connected to said blade for said eccentric pin to urge said blade to move between said first and second positions upon rotation of said grip.