US 6,132,468 A · Arthroscopic replacement of cartilage using flexible inflatable envelopes

Abstract

A flexible "scaffold" envelope is disclosed which can be used to replace damaged cartilage in knees, shoulders, or other joints of a mammalian body. Designed for use in arthroscopic surgery, the envelope is sufficiently flexible to allow it to be rolled up or folded and inserted into a knee or other joint via a small skin incision. Before insertion, a segment of damaged cartilage is removed from a bone surface, and the bone surface is prepared, using various tools and alignment guides disclosed herein. After the envelope is inserted into the joint, it is unfolded, positioned properly, and anchored and cemented to a bone surface. After anchoring, the envelope is filled via an inlet tube with a polymeric substance that will set and solidify at body temperature. During filling and setting, the surgeon can manipulate the exterior shape of the scaffold envelope, to ensure that the implant will have a proper final shape after the polymer has cured into fully solidified form. Using these materials and methods, a synthetic replacement can be created for damaged or diseased cartilage, having a smooth surface and a non-rigid stiffness closely resembling natural cartilage. The entire procedure can use minimally invasive tools and methods, to avoid having to cut open and fully expose a joint that is being repaired. Various devices and methods are disclosed to facilitate this procedure, including tools and devices to help ensure proper arthroscopic preparation of large bone surfaces, and proper positioning, alignment, anchoring, and filling of a scaffold envelope.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A surgically implantable device for replacing a segment of damaged cartilage in a mammalian joint, comprising a flexible envelope suitable for surgical implantation in a joint, wherein the flexible envelope:

(i) is designed to be flexed into a shape that allows it to be surgically inserted into a joint having damaged cartilage, using arthroscopic tools and methods;
(ii) can be restored to a desired size and shape which is useful for replacing a segment of damaged cartilage, after the flexible envelope has been inserted into the joint through a skin incision;
(iii) is designed to be permanently anchored to a bone surface;
(iv) has a fluid inlet orifice which allows the flexible envelope to be filled, after it has been surgically inserted into a joint, with a fluidized compound that will set into a solidified material inside the flexible envelope, thereby creating a filled implant consisting essentially of an envelope and the material contained within the envelope,
wherein the flexible envelope is suited in all respects for use in such manner, and thereby enables a surgeon to create inside a joint, using arthroscopic methods, a filled implant which is permanently anchored to a bone surface and is medically effective in replacing a damaged segment of cartilage.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Arthroscopic replacement of cartilage using flexible inflatable envelopes

Life of this patent

Arthroscopic replacement of cartilage using flexible inflatable envelopes

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims29