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US 5,858,020 AGranted
Modular prosthesis
AssigneeMetagen, LLC
InventorsWesley D. Johnson, Richard C. Emery
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMetagen, LLC
InventorsWesley D. Johnson, Richard C. Emery
Estimating the term…
A kit for producing a modular prosthesis is provided, the kit including a first prosthesis member having a cavity such as a bore formed in it, and a clamp releasably clamped in the cavity. The clamp, which may be a rod having an axial bore through a portion of its length, is subjected to an external stimulus such as a stretching force to cause the diameter of the clamp to be reduced enough so that the clamp is received in the cavity. As the stimulus is withdrawn, the clamp returns toward its initial configuration, and in so doing, expands against the walls of the cavity. A second prosthesis member may be configured to receive a portion of the first member such that expansion of the clamp in the cavity of the first member concurrently causes that member to expand into contact with the second member to clamp the members together.
A kit for making a modular prosthesis comprising a first prosthesis member having walls defining a cavity having an internal surface, and a clamp comprising a metal rod having an axis and an external surface, the rod having a first, rest configuration having a predetermined dimension in a direction transverse to its axial direction and being configured to accommodate an external stretching force applied thereto during insertion of said rod at least partially into said cavity, said rod being responsive to said external stretching force to assume a second shape having a lesser dimension in said transverse direction with concurrent increase in its axial length to permit the rod to be at least partially inserted into said cavity, said predetermined transverse dimension being such that upon withdrawal of the external stretching force, the clamp returns toward its rest configuration with consequent increase in its dimension in said transverse direction sufficient to bring said internal surface of the cavity and the external surface of the rod into surface-to-surface contact to strongly clamp said clamp to said member.
A kit for making a modular prosthesis comprising a first member having walls defining a cavity having an internal surface, a second member having a cavity with an inner surface configured to snugly receive and confront a surface of at least a portion of the first member, and a clamp comprising a metal rod having superelastic properties at body temperature, the rod having an axis and an external surface, the rod having a first, rest configuration having a predetermined dimension in a direction transverse to its axis direction and being configured to accommodate an external stretching force applied thereto during insertion of said rod at least partially into said cavity of said first member, said rod being responsive to said external stretching force to assume a second shape having a lesser dimension in said transverse direction with concurrent increase in its axial length to permit the rod to be at least partially inserted into the cavity of the first member, said predetermined transverse dimension being such that upon withdrawal of the external stretching force, the rod returns toward its rest configuration with consequent increase in its dimension in the transverse direction sufficient to bring said internal surface of the cavity of the first member and the external surface of the rod into surface-to-surface contact and to bring said confronting surfaces of the first and second members into surface-to-surface contact to strongly clamp said members together.
A kit for a modular prosthesis comprising a first prosthesis member having walls defining a cavity and a clamp releasably clampable within said cavity, the clamp having superelastic properties at body temperature and having a first, rest configuration having a predetermined dimension in one direction, an instrument configured to apply, during insertion of said clamp into said cavity, a stretching force to said clamp in a second direction normal to said one direction to reduce said dimension in the one direction enough to permit said clamp to be inserted into said cavity, said predetermined dimension being such that upon removal of the stretching force, the clamp returns toward its rest configuration with consequent increase in its dimension in the one direction sufficient to strongly clamp to said member.
A kit for making a modular prosthesis comprising a first member having walls defining a cavity and a clamp releasably clampable within said cavity and comprising a metal rod having an axial bore closed at one end, the rod having an axial dimension and a transverse dimension that is increased upon decrease in said axial dimension and wherein said cavity is shaped to axially receive said rod, the rod having a first, rest position having a predetermined dimension in a transverse direction preventing its reception in said cavity, and being capable, upon application of physical stress, of assuming a second shape having a lesser dimension in said transverse direction with concurrent increase of a dimension in an axial direction to permit said rod to be at least partially received in said cavity, said predetermined dimension being such that upon release of said applied physical stress, the rod returns toward its rest configuration with consequent increase in its dimension in the transverse direction sufficient to strongly clamp to said member.
A kit for a modular prosthesis comprising a first prosthesis member having walls defining a cavity, a clamp releasably clampable within said cavity, the clamp having walls defining an exterior surface and a hollow interior, said clamp having superelastic properties at body temperature and having a first, rest configuration having a predetermined wall thickness, and a second prosthesis member having an elongated portion sized for reception within said clamp and configured to apply a stretching force to said clamp upon insertion of said elongated portion into said clamp to reduce the thickness of said clamp walls, said clamp being sized such that upon release of said stretching force, said clamp clamps to said cavity and to said elongated portion of said second prosthesis member as said clamp walls return toward said predetermined wall thickness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.